One to Battle, Two to Conquer
by Untouched7Magic
Summary: Mindy Potter looked into steel gray eyes. Do you trust me. She longed to expose the truth, but that only but her in more danger. Her true idenity was secret. Occlumency couldn't save her now. I trust you.Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

"We have to act fast," Albus Dumbledore explained. He was an elder wizard. He had a long, silver beard, dark-green wizarding robes, and twinkling, blue eyes hidden slightly under half-moon spectacles. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a very powerful wizard, often called a genius, but occasionally others referred to him as a bit mad. Dumbledore was sitting at the head of a long wooden table in the large stone kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, in London, England.

Surrounding him were six other witches and wizards in the Order. To his left were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley was a short balding man with extremely red hair. He was the head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office in the Ministry of Magic. Mrs. Weasley was a plump, kind face woman with extremely red hair also. They were the parents of the seven Weasley children, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny; all whom, you guessed it, had extremely red hair. Nymphadora Tonks was an Auror, or a dark wizard catcher, and a Metamorphagus; she could change her appearance at will. At this moment she had short, bright, purple hair. Next to her was Remus Lupin. He had been a friend of James Potter and Sirius Black in school. He wore shabby robes and had graying hair, though he was still fairly young. Among them were other Aurors; Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody. Kingsley was a tall, black wizard with a golden hoop earring hanging from one of his ears. Moody was an older wizard that had scars that seemed to cover his entire body. There was a large chunk taken out of his nose, but most spectacular of all, was his single electric-blue eye which whizzed around his eye socket, while the other one was normal.

In the center of the table was a golden bowl, ancient markings encrypted on the rim of it. It was a Pensieve. Still, this wasn't any other ordinary Pensieve; this one didn't just show memories, it also showed what a certain person was doing at the present time. Inside was a silvery substance that swirled around continuously.

Dumbledore stared at it for a moment than looked back to the Order. "She's not safe. She never has been. I made a very bad mistake putting her there in the first place. We all knew this. Sirius and I did this in hopes that she would never have to learn the truth, but it is what we feared, Voldemort has found it. Something has to be done."

"Where did he acclaim such information?" Lupin shook his head.

"That's the question, isn't it?" Moody said in a growling voice. "Someone must know more than we do."

"What are we going to tell Harry? He's gone through so much and now this! This should never have happened like this," Mrs. Weasley murmured.

"We knew this would be difficult. There's no doubt about it," Dumbledore spoke, "but don't worry about Harry, we're going to tell him the truth. Since the prophecy was destroyed and most of it was forgotten, Harry had the only part known about by man. We knew there was a part missing. Deep inside we all knew but we were too blind to worry or care about it. How many lives have we put in jeopardy now that Voldemort has found it?"

"Additionally, he question really is where the records located and what it contains." Dumbledore said this while taking a look around the room observing the looks on the Order's faces, all blank and quite expressionless from weariness and anguish. "Tonight," Dumbledore continued, "tonight, I will go to the Smyth household and start the explanation. It would be best if Mindy is not present at the time."

"Good thinking, Albus. It wouldn't be exceptionally safe either," Kingsley said while leaning back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest.

Dumbledore nodded, "Would anyone else like to accompany me?"

"I would be flattered,"

"I will go too," Lupin responded proudly. Dumbledore acknowledged. A drowsy silence followed. "That settles it, tonight we will be off." "I hate to run, but I have a very important meeting with Mindy's teachers and then to find Sirius."

Dumbledore rose, glanced at the door from above his spectacles, and turned toward the door and was gone. The meeting was adjourned.

Exactly at a quarter to four, Professor Dumbledore walked through the door of the kitchen once again, this time to find Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table with Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They looked up when he entered. Lupin and Kingsley were both clad in muggle clothing, jeans and simple t-shirts; it was to hot outside for anything else. Dumbledore was still in his wizarding robes. He took a seat across from them.

"Now the plan… we are going to separate Mindy from her parents. It would be a good idea for her to know just what she needs to know, nothing more, nothing less, though her parents will be harder to convince. I had Snape make a potion to reverse all the effects that we made and return her to the fashion she would be as if this never even happened. It will take the potion a week exactly to have its full effects." Dumbledore pulled a crystal phial out of his robes. It contained a moist, greenish liquid splashing around inside.

Lupin took a glance at his watch. "Oh, look at the time."

"Oh, yes, we should be gone by now," Dumbledore said.

They said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, and then they were off to the United States.

Professor Albus Dumbledore, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin apparated right to the front door of the Smyth residence in the small town in of Medical Lake Washington, USA. The home was on the outskirts, in the country. Around them were a big red barn, two story farm houses, and pastures with woods. In the pasture at their left, there were horses; the yard had three Dobermans and a Dalmatian that were barking warningly at them. Dumbledore raised a hand and the dogs quieted and began wagging their tails. There were cats on the doorstep, peacocks and chickens in the coop, dusty old farm trucks, and a wood shed piled high with wood. The sun was slowly setting on the tree tops giving the setting a warm purplish tint.

Dumbledore walked to the front doorstep and the rest followed. He knocked a few times on the door and stepped back. A few moments later a women opened the door. She was of average height with blue eyes and shoulder length curly brown hair. "Hello?" she asked in a questioning voice.

"Mrs. Smyth, I am Albus Dumbledore and these are Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt. We are here to talk to you and your daughter," Dumbledore said. "Brenda, isn't it?"

Brenda looked at him like he was crazy. "The Headmaster at Hogwarts?" She looked as if she was surprised at herself for even pretending to believe this. They did look like they could be. "That's just an old children's story."

"I can insure you that we're more than that," Dumbledore said calmly. "Would you like to see some magic?" Brenda stood there for a moment than nodded looking around nervously. "What would you like me to do?"

"Um…you could... like… levitate something?" she asked and with a slight hand movement, she pointed to the rock that was near the steps. It rose to knee-height and fell back to the ground again as Dumbledore waved his wand. Brenda looked absolutely astonished and mystified. Little did she actually expect that there was actual magic as witches and wizards levitating stuff and flying around on broomsticks.

"So, why are you here?" she asked rather grouchily not noticing that her question had already been answered. Dumbledore had the impression that she wasn't going to let in just yet.

"We're here to talk about your daughter Mindy," he said all the more calmly.

Brenda just looked questionably protective at him. She paused a moment then backed through the door. "Come in." Brenda opened the door for Dumbledore, and led the way into the house.

The house was big and cozy. Dumbledore and the others took a seat on the couch and chair as Brenda offered them. "Would it be alright if Remus Lupin talks to Mindy separately for the time being? We think it would be in her best interest."

Brenda looked leery. "Sure." She started down the hallway and headed downstairs.

"Mrs. Smyth is cooperating nicely," Dumbledore told Lupin and Kingsley. "I had expected more of a fight. Of course, this is only the beginning."

About five minutes later, Brenda came upstairs followed by a teenage girl. That had to be Mindy. She was tall and thin. She had long dark hair and hazel eyes. She smiled when she came into the room.

"Her father and grandmother are on their way as quick as they can. It'll probably be ten minutes," Brenda commented.

Mindy bypassed her and introduced herself. "I'm Mindy," she said excitedly but politely. A younger boy came into the door and stopped short. "This is my brother, Orion." Orion was a husky, brown-haired, green-eyed, eleven year old boy. Orion looked totally oblivious.

"Who are you?" he asked. Mindy glared. "What?"

"Well, I thought it was kind of obvious," said Mindy.

"Because Mom told you."

"Oh, no, she didn't!"

"Kids!" her mother snapped. The small argument came to an abrupt halt. Mindy felt embarrassed realizing that all eyes were on her.

"Mindy," the man called Lupin started, "would you mind going and getting your books?"

"Yes, um, sir, um…Orion, come here," she replied uncertainly, and her brother and she started down the hallway.

"Orion," she whispered when she was out of earshot, "the older one. You know who that is, don't you?" Orion remained quiet. "Don't you see why Mom is acting so weird? That's Professor Dumbledore."

"That one dude in those creepy old books?"

"Yes, Orion, and the other ones are Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"Who are they?"

"Read the books."

She started gathering the book that they had been talking about in her arms. The Harry Potter books, that's where all this came from. Professor Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. R.J. Lupin was a teacher at the school and he was also known as a werewolf. There was also Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mindy didn't know too much about him; he was in the last book they had found of the series, the fifth one. He was an Auror. They were all part of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society, people who fought against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

They were here, standing just down the hall.

It made no sense. These books had just appeared one day in the attic. They were all dirty and worn. They were stacked neatly right beside the door that led from the staircase, like waiting to be found. Nobody knew where they had come from. They all thought that the previous owners of the house had left them. That didn't convince Mindy to this day; why did they just appear there? They would've come across them before. Once she tried to research them online, but nothing was found on them. They weren't even heard of. No author's name, no title, no nothing. They were just acclaimed by the name 'The Harry Potter Books'. All of her family had eventually read them and loved them. The fifth one was different, though; it just ended. All of the others had an ending where the next one had picked up off. The fifth book didn't really end at all. There had to be more too it. There was no way that was the end of the series. There were too many questions unanswered, too many things just left standing.

A smile came across Mindy's face. She was going to get the answers to all her questions, she was sure of it. It still didn't make any sense, but she was willing to bet this would be a very odd afternoon.

"Why are they here?" Orion asked rudely interrupting her train of thought.

"I don't know. That's why I was trying to be polite." She breathed stacking the five books in her arms. "Can you take these?" she asked, handing Orion three of the books.

"Yeah, sure."

They started back down the hallway and as they entered the room.

"Would you mind coming stepping outside. She glanced at him then to her mom. She half expected her to pull the "whatever you have to say you can say in front of me argument," but when she didn't she obliged. Everyone was acting quite strange for having three strange people who claimed themselves to be wizards.

"Hello, Mindy, my name is Remus Lupin." He offered his hand Mindy took it smiling. The suspense was almost overwhelming. "Do you have any idea why we're here?"

"Nope."

"Of course not," There was a long pause as if he was thinking. "There is no easy way to tell you what I volunteered to tell you." He started, "I rehearsed all the ways I could to explain this to you. First off, I have to tell you that I'm going to give you as much information as I possibly can, which is more than I'm supposed to. Many believe that we shouldn't be doing this, I think their wrong." Mindy stared at him apprehensively. "Those books," he jestered to the pile of 5th hard bound books now resting on the table, "you've read them, haven't you?"

She nodded intently. "More than once."

"Well, there is one, very significant character missing from the story." She raised her eyebrows. "That is you. You see, you are not the person you think you are, you're a witch." Lupin paused. Mindy took this time to stare at him stupidly. Feeling it impolite to follow her impulse and agree, she continued to sit in silence. As he continued she was debating within herself the reality of all this. "On top of that, you're not just any witch James and Lily Potter are also your biological parents."

Pinching failed. As she refocused on Lupin's rather young but strained appearance. She knew this couldn't be a dream. This would be an awful joke. No actor was capable of playing Lupin's role. "Sister…twin sister."  
She shook her head. "That doesn't make sense."

"You're right." Lupin replied, "Logically, it would be impossible, but you must remember who I'm talking about. You're a witch, Mindy, fifteen years ago, your parents' were murdered by You-Know-Who, the pervious afternoon you were taken and placed with a foster family."

"They know-my family, I mean?"

"That is an answer that is more complex than you think. The important thing is that you first understand this. You're in extreme danger. The last few years we've had had an inner conflict, we've been debating whether or not we would bring you in on all this. Now it seems we have no choice."

"I don't understand." She started, "Your saying that this is all real? That a book, not a very descriptive one for that matter, is actually a reality."

"If the book was so descriptive our world would be discovered."

She disregarded his reply; it would be much harder to convince her. "Voldemort is real?" He nodded, "-and he's back?" He nodded again. She pieced the puzzle together piece by piece. "Before Voldemort murders the Potters I was put here? Why all of a sudden? It has been fifteen years! Why did you send me off in the first place?"

"It was too dangerous if you remained with your family." Lupin explained, "they were in hiding and they knew that if you stayed with them you would be killed."

"Wait," she interrupted, "I would be killed? What about Harry? He would have been killed just as easy as me, the prophecy didn't clarify-"

"Mindy, it was your parents' choice. They chose Harry to remain behind, if both of you went it would be too conspicuous. They knew they had to risk one of their child's lives."

She sat for awhile staring at her lap, deep in thought. "But why now?"

"The circumstances have changed. We need you." She didn't understand why they would unexpectedly need her after fifteen years. She had a mixture of feelings brewing inside. First, she was asked to believe that the whole wizard aspect was real, now it had risen to a level that she couldn't comprehend. "It's not that they didn't want you, its not that we couldn't have retrieved you after the war was over, and Harry was sent to live with his aunt and uncle. We felt that remaining here would be best for you."

"So," she asked slowly after a few moments of silence, "what's going to happen to me? Your not going to leave me here are you?"

Lupin cracked a smile, "not if you don't want to." She met his smile. "We figured that Hogwarts would be the best place for a young witch like you."

Inside, the atmosphere had completely changed. When Mindy walked in the room everyone had a mystified, bewildered, and almost sad, look about them.

They were still her family, nothing could ever change that, but they didn't feel the way Mindy felt about this.

She sat next to her dad and her grandma, who looked at her sadly. Who knew if Dumbledore had told them something completely different than what Lupin had told her?

Dumbledore pulled a crystal phial from his robes and handed it to her.

"This is the potion?" she asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Take it before you got to sleep tonight, and you will start to slowly feel the effects. By the time we pick you up next week you should be completely changed." She, like that, was leaving her home forever. She was in such a state of shock, that she couldn't tell if it was a good feeling or not. All she could think about when she saw Professor Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, and Kingsley Shacklebolt walk away in the night and disapparate was that her life was going to change forever…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

"You know, you could be a little nicer since you're leaving tomorrow," Mindy's little brother, Orion, said.

Jorden had decided that she was to be called by her real name: Mindy. This had made her parents sour, but they had done as she wished. "You're just jealous," Mindy said simply. They were sitting outside on their front porch, in the evening sun.

"The only thing that I am jealous of is…you got new everything! New clothes and everything else you can think of," Orion started.

"Why would you care if I got new clothes? You never change your clothes," Mindy said. Orion glared. "I'm not even going to go as far as to ask you when the last time you changed your underwear was."

"Hay!" Orion retaliated.

"Hay is for horses, not people, grass is cheaper," Mindy continued briskly. "You should really do it some time; you know, change your underwear. What if something happened and you went to the hospital and, well, just think of it."

"I think, not that you care, but I think that that potion thing you swallowed affected your brain-if you even had one in the first place." Orion smiled and jumped up as his sister reached for him.

She did change drastically from the potion. It was kind of difficult to explain when people came to say goodbye to her. She was probably a little taller. She obviously looked more mature and older, since she was now sixteen. She also thought that she thought differently. She knew that it sounded weird when she tried to tell it to her mom. Still, it was true. She used to be really shy, so shy that she would be taken advantage of, but now she was different, almost smarter than that.

Of course, all the family and family friends either knew the truth, or thought she was going to England to attend a boarding school. That's what all her school and close friends thought. Jorden still thought it was a little odd that total strangers came to talk to her a bit, and then, all of a sudden, she was leaving her home to follow them. She had a big imagination, but her mom and family must have had a trace of the idea about what was really happening, or what had happened; otherwise, it would've never ended up like this. She kept thinking about the Harry Potter books and why they wrote them. It was a pretty obvious way to give their whole world away, but then again, it would be only little children who actually would believe there was such a thing as Hogwarts, and flying broomsticks, and crap like that. All the same, she was glad it all existed, and she was even gladder that she could be part of it…being the sister of Harry Potter was a big part of it, plus she got to leave that old place. She looked gloomily around it. She didn't have a bad life; she was just tired of the everlasting monotony of it. She thought it was what any other teenager would think, though.

Her brother had came back to sit by her, and her mom stepped outside. "Are you all packed and ready to go?" her mom asked in a brusque fashion.

"Yeah, I think so. I have to check one more time," She replied brightly despite the gruff question. Her family had not been the same towards her since the Order had shown up. The only ones that remained faithful were her brother, Orion and cousin, Michael. They said that the rest simply disowned her, this was a joke but she could only fear its truth.

"You father and grandma will be here tomorrow to see you off. You'd better go to bed early and get a goodnight sleep." Mindy disapeared inside at her mother's words.

"

Mindy did just the opposite of what her mom told her, and played on the internet for several hours, emailing friends, and instant messaging before retiring to bed. She was going to miss the luxury of modern Muggle technology.

She opened her eyes and immediately jumped up. It was 11:00! She was due to leave in thirty minutes. Luckily, she had already lain out clothes. She had never been away from home for more than a month. She was about to depart for a year long journey before she would return once more. Three months were to be spent inside headquarters; term didn't even end at Hogwarts for another month. Quickly, she got dressed and prettied up. She opened the trunk that Dumbledore had sent her. "Forget it," she muttered, she about to check it like she had promised to do the previous day, but then decided that it was too much of a hassle. She pulled it out in the hallway and stopped to listen to the voices in the hall.

"We have no choice," her mother's voice came from the kitchen.

"We know it was going to happened eventually." That was Jorden's father's voice.

"This is her life. Our past and choice have nothing to do with it." Her grandma's voice followed.

Quietly, she continued to pull her trunk into the living room. She was right, they did remember getting her. There was a twinge in there voices that startled her. Something told her that her family not only knew this all along but had something to do with the whole thing. She strained to hear further.

"They all sounded very argent. It was almost like something was wrong and they needed her," her mom added.

Her dad spoke. "Well, it's just a possibility, but," the sound of whispering followed. They knew she was listening. It was impossible to make out what her dad was saying.

"Is that girl ever going to get up!" her grandma chimed.

She took her grandma's hollering as a clue to make her presence known. "I'm right here. I was putting my trunk thing in the living room."

"You were listening the whole time, weren't you?" her mother concluded.

"No," she half lied; she had only heard some of what they had been saying. She stood awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen. Her mother, father and grandma surround a round table or as they would prefer to be called, Brenda, Garrett and Ina. The atmosphere had changed from what it would've been if this was any ordinary day.

She looked at the clock. "Where's Orion?"

"He's at Michael's house. I figured this would be hard for him," Brenda replied. She guessed he was at his cousin house, not grieving but throwing a party because she was going, going, gone.

"Oh." She replied and shifted her weight. All three of her family members were staring at the table, not willing to make eye contact. "So-umm, I'll write."

"Or you can just call." Her grandma said.

"-but," she was starting to say that technology was useless in Hogwarts. She stopped herself, "I-I'll find away."

She stood there as her heart broke. Her loving family had closed their doors on her. There was no reasoning, no explanation. She didn't understand how over the period of a week they could just…disown her like she had never belonged to their family to begin with. She wanted to tell them how she felt. That it didn't matter that she was not biologically theirs, she still loved them like always and being a witch and going to Hogwarts would never change that. It made her feel like she shouldn't be excited that she was about to live a dream come true. This confused her to no end.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She ran to open it. Dumbledore stood on her doorstep beaming back at her, at his side, Lupin, looked equally happy to see her too. She smiled letting them in. She returned to the stop she had been previously standing. "Well, I'll see you later." She said uncertainly. She went around the table and gave each one of them a hug which they halfheartedly returned.

Then she paused. "Be a good girl," her Ina commented.

"I will, don't worry," She continued to smiled. "I always am."

"Remember to call." Brenda reminded. She nodded.

"Bye Jay." Garrett concluded.

Dumbledore charmed her trunk to float off the floor, with another flick it either disappeared or became invisible, she couldn't tell. Mindy waved once more, forcing back a tear, and then turned to go.

Together, she traveled with Dumbledore and Lupin down her driveway, without knowledge of where they were heading. They turned onto a dirt road. She found herself lucky that not too many people drove on this road, since this was a very odd scene. Both Dumbledore and Lupin were clad in wizard attire. Mindy struggled to keep up with their fast paces. They walked in silence.

"Where are we going?"

"We had a fireplace connected to the Floo network over this way, in an abandoned building," explained Lupin. "It was the only thing we could do under the present circumstances."

"Isn't that really far to go?" she asked. They turned down a small deer trail that leads into a clump of trees. Mindy had only been this way once, because there was an apple tree back here, but there had been a small fire and most of the property was destroyed.

"Yes, it is, but it's better than walking. Don't you think so?" Dumbledore replied. She nodded.

They reached the clump of trees. Inside there was a small hut thing. It had an old ragged door that was falling off the hinges. For the looks of it, the door had once been painted in white. Now, the painting was all chipped, and it looked like the fire had gotten it because it was scorched and with smoke damage. It didn't look like a place she would choose to go into if they were taking a walk. It wasn't that welcoming.

Dumbledore took out his wand, pointed it at the doorknob, and muttered something. It must've been a magical door, because it looked like you could just poke it and it would fall down. However, even after Dumbledore cast the spell, Lupin had to lurch at it to make it open with an awful screech.

Inside, it had a totally different appearance than the outside. "You can't judge a book by its cover," Mindy murmured. It was quite plain, but beautiful all the same. It had newly polished, light- covered wood flooring; Mindy always wanted wood flooring, so she appreciated it more than the average teenager. The window had curtains and shades but, from the outside, they were not visible. The walls were solid stone, which was another drastic thing you wouldn't have guessed from it. That's probably why the fire didn't burn all the way through. However, what really made the room special was the magical tint. You could feel it as soon as you walked into the room. Everything was colored in different shades of the same color. The only other remarkable thing in the room was the fireplace. It was a tall fireplace, so tall, that a person could stand in it. People in America where not used to this devices, unlike British people. She knew this was normal there, but to her, seeing a fireplace this large was very unnatural. Many people didn't even have fireplaces here. The fireplace now had blazing green flames. It was a result of Professor Dumbledore throwing some kind of powder into it. There was a warm heat flowing off the flames. "Okay, Mindy, you know what to do, right?" Lupin asked.

Mindy nodded. She had read it in the books. It was easy; well not for Harry, if one takes into account his first time, when he tried to get to Diagon Alley and ended up in Knockturn Alley. She pushed the thought out of her head for it made her worry.

"I'll go first just in case," Lupin said.

"The address is Number Two, Grimmauld Place, London, England," Dumbledore told her. "It leads to an abandoned house close to number eleven. We can only be there for a short period of time. Once inside, everyone must remain silent until we can get into number Twelve."

Lupin grabbed a handful of the Floo powder and step into the fireplace. "Number Two., Grimmauld Place, London England!" he said louder than he would normally do, but he didn't really yell it like Mindy thought one would have to. Then he threw down the powder and disappeared into a midst of swirling green flame.

"Get your powder," Dumbledore said. Mindy scooped up a handful of powder and stepped into the fireplace. "I'll be apparating, so I'll be there before you," Dumbledore continued. "You will slow down when you start getting closer to the residence, and when you see Lupin step out."

Mindy nodded. "Number Two, Grimmauld Place, London, England!" she called and threw down the powder just as Lupin had done.

Flames started swirling around her until she was entirely engulfed into them. She started swirling around fast. It was lucky she didn't have motion sickness. Houses and everything else zipped by until, a minute later, it started slowing down, and she suddenly saw Professor Dumbledore and Lupin.

Finally, she was there: in England.

It was a lot cooler in England, even with a fireplace behind her. Through the window, she could see that the sun was setting, and realized that there was a time difference. Mindy must have had a sudden awareness explosion, because she also realized that she was sitting on the floor. She must've slipped when she stepped out. Dumbledore and Lupin were beaming at her. She quickly got up. "You know what to do next, don't you?" asked Dumbledore.

Mindy thought for a moment. "Be quiet and think about the address?" she guessed quietly and Dumbledore nodded.

They filed out of the room and shut the door behind them. Outside, it was pouring rain. Mindy stepped out into it, and she was immediately drenched. It was quite a change from the boiling temperatures she remembered, back at home. It was kind of nice. They walked out onto the road and followed it down. Something was very odd; number thirteen was down the street, next to number eleven. The houses weren't like Privet Drive at all; at least it didn't fit the description. These houses were more…normal. They weren't exactly trashed, but neither were they perfect. The grass needed some mowing, the houses were painted differently. But all the same, it was a quiet, little neighborhood.

Mindy thought hard on the number. The space between number thirteen and eleven looked as if they had just miscalculated the numbers, until a few moments later, when a grimy and broken, old house protruded out of the ground, pushing the other buildings out of the way. The inhabitants of the shifted buildings remained silent. Apparently, they didn't even notice that their houses had moved a few feet. Mindy followed Dumbledore up the crumbling steps. He opened the door with a fairly loud screech and went in.

Mindy had no doubt about what she found inside…total darkness. She quickly tried to straighten her hair, which was hanging all over her face, soaked from the rain. She noticed there was a musty sort of smell, like when you move into a new house that has been empty for a long time. She knew this had been the case. After Lupin shut the door, there was enough light to show that they weren't going to run into anything. The entrance room was very large, and Mindy could tell that this was a very large house just by a few yards in.

Mindy followed Dumbledore to a plain wooden door. He paused and glanced at the door, then at her, then proceeded in. Suddenly, Mindy got a huge nervous knot in the pit of her stomach. She knew everyone was looking forward to seeing her, so that meant that she would have to make a good impression. Well, at least Harry wouldn't be in there. It would've been way harder than it would be if he was.

Mindy braced herself as she followed suit and entered behind Dumbledore. It looked the way she expected. There was a long table in the middle of a great stone kitchen, and sitting at the table were many magical people. Right away she recognized Sirius Black. He was tall, pale, and quite skinny; he had long, dark hair that fell to his shoulders, and to his face, much like Mindy's, and he also had dark-grey eyes. He was the one person she had been most anxious to meet. He was her favorite character in the books. She smiled as she sat between Dumbledore and Lupin, and across from who she guessed was Mr. Weasley.

"Everyone, this is Mindy," Dumbledore announced. Mindy made an effort to nod or something, but she only managed to keep a smile. She found it rather embarrassing.

"Now, you probably know who most of these people are, but I'll introduce them anyway," Dumbledore continued. "This is Mr. Weasley." He indicated the redheaded man across from her. "Nymphadora Tonks." Mindy was doing pretty well guessing who was who so far. "You know Kingsley Shacklebolt, this is Alastor Moody." She obviously knew who this was. He was kind of hard to miss. "And last but not least," Dumbledore continued. "This is your godfather, Sirius Black." Mindy tried to make some kind of acknowledgment towards each one, because they certainly did to her, which was welcoming more or less. "You need an explanation." Mindy gave the slightest of nods feeling very shy. "And you have a right to know, but I'm afraid I'm not going to be the one that tells you. I feel that your godfather, Sirius, should have that responsibility." Everyone around the table looked up at Dumbledore in surprise. "I really should be getting back to Hogwarts. I, unfortunately, have a very important meeting with the Minister of Magic. I think we all need to be somewhere, but before we depart I have a few questions." Mindy nodded. "How does your family feel about this?"

She had been waiting for this question. She hesitated before answering. Everyone was looking at her. "Erm-well, they were okay until a couple of days later. Honestly," she began, "they don't want anything to do with me anymore. They wouldn't talk to me or look at me or anything." Many of the surrounding wizards shot Dumbledore puzzled looks.

He nodded, "I had assumption that would occur. Is that just the adults?"

"Yeah, Orion and Michael are fine, a little jealous. They said the rest of the family disowned me and to deal with it." She paused and then added, "They were kidding."

"Of course," Dumbledore peered at her from under his half-moon spectacles, "and how do you feel about all this?"

Again the pressure was on her. She looked down. "I think this is the most amazing thing that's ever happen to me and honestly, sir I could be screaming and jumping up and down right now-but I don't think that would leave a very good first impression."

The atmosphere loosened. A couple of people even laughed at her remark. Dumbledore smiled. He whispered something into Lupin's ear and the latter nodded. "It's time we depart." He stood up and Kingsley, Moody, and Mr. Weasley followed suit. She got the impression that they were all in a hurry. Kingsley clasped Mindy on the shoulder as he walked away. They all filled out of the kitchen and she was left with only Sirius and Lupin.

"I'm sorry about that, Mindy," Sirius said. "They're having trouble in the Ministry, and it's been a lot of work for them to keep that under control. It's only because Fudge is a…"

"Sirius!" Lupin warned.

"Well, Fudge has got to figure it out one day. I mean he's been Minister for a while. Why would Dumbledore want his job now?" Mindy added.

"Exactly, I think he's growing madder by the minute," Sirius agreed, looking at first surprised that Mindy was able to make a comment and know what she was talking about. "Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Sirius Black and this is my house." He looked glumly as he took a quick glance around the room.

"I'm… well, Mindy, I guess. I used to be Jorden." Sirius, who moved to the chair next to her, reached out and Mindy shook his hand.

"Okay," Lupin broke in, "it looks like you'll be fine here but, sadly, I also have to depart. Dumbledore has ordered me to find an important document, and I must get it before somebody else does."

"Goodbye, Remus," Sirius said as Lupin walked out the door as everyone else did before. "You'll have to get used to that. Everyone has had their hearts set on staying here as little as possible, though I don't blame them." Sirius paused. "You look like your parents," he added, beaming.

Mindy was proud to have someone say that about her. She hadn't heard much about her parents from the beginning. She knew what they looked like. The only image she had formed of them came from their descriptions in the books.

"I should get to explaining everything that you want to know, because Molly Weasley is coming, and you probably know how she feels about you young guys knowing too much," Sirius continued.

"Well, let's start way back… I don't know how much Lupin has told you already. July 31, 1989 Harry and you were born to Lily and James Potter. You probably noticed that those books said this had all taken place about ten years ago; well that's a complete lie. When you were born, a prophecy was made. At that time, we didn't know until Dumbledore met an applicant, who was a granddaughter of a famous Seer to fill the position of Divination teacher; her name was Sibyl Trelawney. As story goes, she had a premonition and recited the prophecy." Sirius took out his wand and flicked it and piece of paper rolled out. He handed it to her. "This is the piece that was recorded on paper after the original was lost in a fire." Sirius paused once more as Mindy read.

_THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES…BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DIFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES… AND THE DARK LORD WIL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT… AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER, FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES…THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES… _

"Well, as Trelawney recited this, they were being spied, for they were at a local pub. The spy caught the beginning and, thinking that she was finished, ran off to tell his master. But he had only heard the first part, so Voldemort ended up with just one bit of the whole thing. I'm assuming it is the part that went 'he would mark him as his equal'. You know what it means don't you?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly," Mindy replied. This was all going so fast.

"What do you think it means?" asked Sirius.

Mindy thought. "Well…" She unfolded the piece of paper for the second time and smoothed it on the table. "The first line must mean the one person that can kill Voldemort is, um… about to be born. The next line must mean…" Mindy paused. _BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES._ What did that mean? "Thrice? Thrice is three; Defied? Well, that must mean that the person who would be born that can kill Voldemort… their parents have gone against Voldemort three times. And seventh month; the seventh month is July. So, they had to be born at the end of July." Mindy thought out loud. Sirius nodded. Mindy glanced at the next part. "Voldemort is going to mark him; that way he'll know who it is and they obviously will have a connection, but he didn't know that he has the power to kill him. Which goes to the next part, either the chosen has to kill Voldemort or be killed by him.'

"That was good," said Sirius surprised. "That's exactly what it means. However, here's the thing. Why when it said 'he' it just didn't say Harry?"

_Sirius must know this, he's just testing me, _Mindy thought. "Bbecause Harry wasn't the only choice; it could've also been Neville Longbottom."

"Correct. You know more than I thought," Sirius replied. Mindy was right. "Voldemort wanted to pick the one he thought would be less of a threat, the Half-blood, like himself, instead of the pureblood." Now Mindy got it; she never actually knew why he had chosen Harry Potter instead of Neville Longbottom.

"Okay," Sirius said, moving on, "Lily and James were put under tight security, but with only that much of the prophecy, they didn't see why they should put you in that much danger. Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper and, as you know, he sold them to Voldemort. I'm not going to get into that. Dumbledore knew a family who wanted to take you. Of course, he had their memories erased and planted with false information. The night when your parents were killed, Voldemort thought he was completing the prophecy and that everything would be over for good, but he only ended up marking Harry as the prophecy said, and ridding himself of powers. As we can see now, he transferred some of them to your brother in the process."

Sirius sighed. "He was brought to the Dursleys. The plan was that if that happened he would remain with the Dursleys because of Petunia and your mother. I'm sure you know that story. I was supposed to take you but being framed and sent to Azkaban, I couldn't. Dumbledore managed to arrange it so that you could stay permanently with the Muggle family. I know for a fact that everyone in the Order and involved didn't want him to resort to that, but there was nothing we could do."

Mindy nodded; she understood and wanted to show him that she did, because it was obviously bothering him to tell her.

"We have been tracking Death Eaters, and we have spies of our own. Through them, we have found out a great deal of information. This last year we have been gathering information about the prophecy. Voldemort wants it, and he is going to do anything to find it. He knows that he didn't hear the whole thing now. He also found out that Harry has a living immediate relative. As soon as we heard this, we planted the books to prepare you. We kept tailing the supporters and found out another piece of vital information… there's another part of the prophecy, that not even we knew about, that has something to do with you. Right now, we're trying to find it, but there has been an idea going around that Voldemort and his immediate followers found it first." Sirius stopped. "I don't mean to scare you."

"I know," Mindy said. The weird thing was that she wasn't scared. She thought it sounded stupid and conceited, but it was true. She certainly was nervous but not as far as scared.

Sirius smiled. "So, do you have any questions?"

"What's the deal about the books?" Mindy asked.

"I'm assuming that you found them. Yes, they were planted. Somebody had approached us with a very interesting idea about letting you and your family in on the general idea. So Dumbledore had those books written. I was completely blown away by the fact that they were in exact detail. Of course there were some minor changes, but that was just so you wouldn't get too curious. Another thing that's interesting about them is that they are from Harry's point of view. Members of the Order were leery about the idea because of that reason. They thought that you would get just his perspective and judge people and things the way he thinks. Just keep that in mind. I guess that's it. So, that's some wise advice from your godfather."

"I'll remember it," Mindy said both serious and jokingly.

About that time, Mrs. Weasley walked in the kitchen. They hadn't even heard her. "You must be Mindy," she said, beaming, before hugging her. "What have you been talking about Sirius?" she asked. Mindy could hear it in her voice that she didn't like Sirius explaining things.

"I have just finished explaining the bare minimum of facts about what is going on to Mindy," Sirius replied calmly. Mrs. Weasley just nodded, not wanting to get into it.

"Mindy, dear, have you been shown where you are staying?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Mindy shook her head. "Okay, get your trunk."

Mindy looked over and immediately saw it. It was sitting against the wall by the kitchen. She had totally forgotten all about it. She tried to pick it up.

"Here let me help you," Sirius offered, and the carried it through the kitchen and up the stairs.

Mindy saw the difference of color in the wall where the house-elf heads once were. Last thing she knew, they had doing some cleaning, and there was quite a difference in what she thought it looked like when Harry left.

They trudged down the hall into the room where Mindy was going to stay. The only thing in the room other than the two beds was the window on the wall; draped over it were clean, white curtains. The cobwebby ceiling was the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes to go to bed. Sirius slept down in the hall, just in case she needed him. She couldn't believe where she was. She couldn't even think that yesterday, she was a plain, old, Muggle called Jorden, and now she was half-way across the world, hardly knowing who she was or what she was doing there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

"School," Dumbledore stated at the breakfast table to Mindy and Sirius. It had been less than a week since she arrived. "Mindy, you are going to get a decent education," Dumbledore continued. "I have already spoken to the trusted professors at Hogwarts, and I think it would be a good experience if you attended Hogwarts the next year. It will be your first year in the sixth year. That obviously raised some objections from the teachers, but I think you can do it; of course it comes with a price. Before you even think about going to school, you'll have to work for it, and I assure you that it will be hard. Are you willing to take that responsibility?" Mindy nodded. "Well, okay. I have all the school books and study supplies you'll need for your studies. This folder…" Dumbledore brought up a large, two-inch thick, folder full of papers and pieces of parchment onto the table. "…contains all of the assignments you will need to complete to show your teachers that you are able to participate in the classes. Of course, you will have to take extra classes to catch up. Before the summer is finished, you will have to take your Ordinary Wizarding Levels, which is a big test. Harry and his year are taking it now just before their fifth year ends. Sirius, in fact, has volunteered to be your official tutor and teacher. Anything that you need help with, he'll help you with."

Mindy finished her breakfast with Professor Dumbledore and Sirius. Dumbledore of course had to leave shortly after to get back to wherever he had to go to. Mindy was glad for her time with Sirius. The first full day she spent with him, she had to ask him to change into his Animagus form as a black dog. She thought it was so cool and made a goal of one day becoming an Animagus too. There had hardly been anyone around at headquarters, and she had gotten close with her godfather. She respected him. He had been her parental figure since she got there, and it was the first time she had ever had a sort of friendship between her and an adult.

At the same time, she had no idea that Sirius felt the same about her. Mindy was like the daughter he had never had, and he felt very responsible. He was honored with her being around. She could still be back with her family. He was happy to have someone around that wasn't Kreacher, the rancid house elf.

"Sirius, where is Professor Dumbledore going?" Mindy asked him, as he sat on the floor with a rag and a bottle of who-knows-what and attempted to clean out this very old wardrobe which was in the living room. As for Mindy, she had been reading through an essay paper she was expected to complete on something that she would laugh at herself if she tried to pronounce it.

"I don't have a clue. Nobody knows. All I know is he's not here nor at Hogwarts," Sirius answered. He sprayed some of the who-knows-what and swatted something with the rag as it made a loud screeching noise.

"What happened?"

"You know how the Ministry of magic thinks Dumbledore is trying to take over?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he's been on thin lines with them since they assigned Dolores Umbridge to take over the seat as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Everyone knew that she was a spy feeding the Ministry information on Dumbledore. Umbridge is a real hag and everyone hates her. She insists on teaching the students from the books. She is strictly against any hands on teaching, and the students really aren't learning anything. Harry, Ron, and Hermione came up with this great idea to start up the D.A., which is a hands-on Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I think that was a great idea. I heard all this from Mundungus, who was sitting up at the Hog's Head Pub when they put this whole thing together."

"Anyway, Harry was teaching this class to some select classmates and, unfortunately, one snitch of a student ran to her parents, who worked for the Ministry, and told them what was happening. The Ministry got involved. Fudge thought it was a perfect time to make sure Dumbledore wasn't pulling anything, so they all went into Dumbledore's office and had a row. Dumbledore lied and said he was the one behind it all, and that there was a select group meeting later that night. Along with the Ministry officials, including Percy Weasley, was Kingsley. They had no knowledge of him being an Order member that could link him to Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall was also there with a witness. Fudge started a fight, and Dumbledore finished it, leaving his office in ruins, and he left. He wouldn't say a thing to anyone about where he was going or anything," Sirius finished as he stood up with the rag. The wardrobe was now spotless and shiny as new. That was some solution in that spray bottle.

"Wow," Mindy said, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment. Even writing had become complicated. She had to use a quill and ink.

Later that day, Mrs. Weasley came over to help Sirius with the house. She had noticed that Mindy was doing a paper on Love potions and helped her out quite a lot.

"I made a Love potion a time or two. That was before they were banned. You used to be able to make them as many times as you wanted. Well, you weren't supposed to. It was against the rules, but we were kids," she explained. "My friends and I used to slip them to boys. We really didn't understand the dangerous aspects of them until they were outlawed and we were more schooled on them."

By the time they had had dinner and were now relaxing, it was really late. Lupin was down in the kitchen tending to some work for the Order. Sirius was with Mindy upstairs, and they were working on brewing a Sleeping Draft. It was hard. Mindy never believed that a potion was so hard to get right; it was just that everything had to be perfect and there were twenty pages of instructions. They were just about to throw in some aconite when Lupin ran up the stairs.

"Harry's in the fire. He said everything's fine, but he wants to talk to you." Lupin breathed quickly trying to catch his breath.

"Stay here," Sirius told her firmly before following Lupin out the door.

Mindy glanced at the potion. It could wait. She really wanted to see what was going on. Slowly and quietly, she snuck out through the door and towards the stairs. She started to walk in the direction where Sirius had turned the corner and waited, listening.

They were talking quietly. "I'm fifteen!" shouted a teenaged boy's voice. It must've been Harry's, her brother's. She listened more intently.

"Look, Harry," Sirius's voice came from downstairs, "James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, you can understand that, can't you? I think James was everything that Snape wanted to be – he was popular, he was good at Quidditch, good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts and James—whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry, – always hated the Dark Arts."

"Yeah," Harry's voice came again, "but he just attacked Snape for no good reason, just because—well, just because you said you were bored," he finished with a slight apologetic note in his voice.

"I'm not proud of it," said Sirius.

Mindy thought she had heard enough because, as she tried to listen harder, it just got more difficult to hear. She went back into the room. She had no idea what all that all about. James and Sirius obviously attacked Snape when they were fifteen. Mindy knew that James and Sirius were the most popular and troublesome students in the school. She and Sirius had grown closer, and in doing so, she had heard lots of stories about his and her father's old days back at Hogwarts. She had heard a lot of their trouble making and the jokes they had played. She also heard about her mother, Lily. She didn't know much about her except from what Sirius told about her, but her father was a different matter. She knew more about him. It wasn't surprising, since he and Sirius had been best friends. From what she heard, she was a lot like her father. She always wanted to be in the middle of things and be the best and could honestly admit that she was the best at about everything. Mindy wished she had gotten to know her parents before they were killed. But thinking about that now was no use since it would be next to impossible.

Mindy turned back to her potion and glanced at the book. Great. She had no idea what she was supposed to do next.

_Stir twice to the side and then flip…_

"How the hell do you flip a potion?" she said aloud to herself.

"I'll show you," came a voice from behind her. She turned around, red for talking to herself. It was Sirius. He had a big smile on his face. Lupin followed him in and took a seat on a chair next to the wall. Sirius kneeled beside her, in front of the potion. "That was your brother, you know," he told her.

"Really?" Mindy asked, pretending she didn't know anything.

"Yes, he needed to talk to someone about your father," Sirius said.

"Why?" She sat up, paying attention to how Sirius was _flipping_ the potion.

"He got into Snape's worst memory, which was stored into a Pensive," Sirius explained. "I guess it showed Pettigrew, Remus, James and me at school when we were fifteen or so, picking on Snape. Harry just wanted some reassurance on James. He got the impression that he was cruel."

"Well, it… Snape – I mean… what did you tell him?" Mindy asked curiously.

"I just explained to him that we're not proud of what we did, and that he shouldn't judge James just for what he saw there. We were immature, and James liked to show off in front of your mother," Sirius replied.

"Oh." Mindy knew how that was. Sirius had mentioned once or twice that James always liked Lily and wanted to impress her, even when she didn't want to have anything to do with him. "Um… what did Snape do? Or did he find out?"

"Oh, yes. He found out," Lupin said crossly.

"I still wanted to have a word with him," Sirius scuffed at Lupin.

"You know we can't afford that," Lupin said calmly. He turned back toward Mindy. "Snape kicked Harry out of Occulumency lessons." Sirius snorted.

"Occleemancee - what?" Mindy asked again, watching Sirius_ flip_ the potion by simply turning it over with a big swoosh.

"Occlumency," Lupin corrected.

"Bless you."

"It is the technique to prevent one's thoughts from being read through Legilimency, which is obviously mind reading."

"So, it was important because of the Voldemort thing?" she asked.

"Very," Sirius said. "Without Harry mastering Occlumency, Voldemort can read his thoughts, or even worse, take over his mind like he did the night when a giant snake creature attacked Mr. Weasley. That's when it all started to come together, and we realized that Voldemort's intention was to possess Harry."

Mindy stared down at the potion. "This might be a stupid question, but why? What is the point?"

"That's actually a quite fair question," Sirius replied. "Remember when I told you that the night the prophecy was told to Dumbledore, and the spy had only got a piece of it? Well, Voldemort, of course, found out there was more to it the night that Harry got his scar. Even worse, he knows we know it and have it hidden…can you hand me the grated hellebore, Mindy?"

Mindy passed him a cup full of crushed, green leaves that was grated into a slimy liquid. "Is this it?"

Sirius nodded. "I need the asphodel… yeah, that. Can you tell me two properties of each, the asphodel and hellebore?" Sirius slowly stirred the potion.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but I have to take off. I have to find some documents for the meeting in a few days. There hidden in the mountains," Lupin apologized all at once as if he just remembered.

"Oh, yes that's right," Sirius muttered. "Well, have fun."

Mindy raised her eyebrows. Why would they be in the mountains, if, in fact, that's where they really were?

"I will," Lupin said sarcastically. He didn't seem amused at all in going looking for those documents. "Bye, Mindy."

"Bye," she said as Lupin departed. A few moments later, there was a door slam and Sirius and Mindy were left there alone again.

"Okay, asphodel. Um…" She tried to think back to what she had read on Sleeping Potions and their ingredients. "Well, in Greek mythology, it's a lily and the flower of the underworld, and the dead, if that counts."

"Good," Sirius said. He rose to his feet and took Lupin's vacant chair. "just stir it slowly, clockwise and counterclockwise."

"And…um… it was planted near tombs long ago, because it was thought to be the favorite food of the dead," Mindy continued.

"Good enough for me," Sirius commented.

"Now, wormwood is easier. Wormwood is bitter, I guess, and in the bible it said that wherever the snake passed through, wormwood would grow after it was banished from the garden. Also, it was used to kill stomach worms, which was good, but on the other hand, it was used to make liquor, absinthe, and was outlawed in many countries… Is this stupid thing done yet?" Mindy asked. She was fed up with stirring it.

"What do you think?" Mindy grunted and flipped open the nearby potion book; she quickly read through a couple of the bottom paragraphs and got her answer. "Yes."

It had been days since they last heard from Lupin. He was supposed to be coming back today. Mindy had been swamped with homework and Sirius' test. Mindy had forgotten that Sirius had inherited a house-elf. Kreacher was the first house-elf she had ever met, and she didn't like him one bit. For one, his appearance was less than inviting. Kreacher was obviously old, and old meant _old_. It looked like the elf's skin was ten times the size as his bones. The only thing he wore was a filthy, old rag tied around its mid section like a loincloth. The elf had the normal bat like ears, but there were giant tuffs of hair growing out of each one. It was bad enough when it looked at you because it had the biggest, blood-shot, watery eyes she'd ever seen. Mindy tried to feel sorry for it because it was just another creature, but she couldn't find the heart to even pretend to.

Mindy was sitting in the kitchen talking with Tonks and Kingsley about Aurors when the thing made its way in and out the door of the kitchen. It had frightened her. Sirius came in after it, yelling about where it had gotten off too. Kingsley had to explain to her what it was.

"The elf came with the house," he had told her. "A nasty surprise, really, but there wasn't anything that we could do about it; it worries me when it goes missing. It knows everything. It could be very dangerous, but like I said, there is nothing to be done about it."

About that time, Lupin had walked in with Alastor Moody. They both sat at the meeting table. "Where's Sirius?" Lupin asked.

"Can someone help me?" Sirius' voice called from upstairs. Lupin jumped up to help Sirius. Mindy wondered what was wrong. Moments later, Lupin appeared in the doorway.

"Can we get some more assistance? Buckbeak has been injured." At this, the remaining members at the table jumped up and followed Lupin upstairs. Mindy followed them.

"Buckbeak? The hippogriff?" Mindy asked. She didn't know Buckbeak was here. That was impossible. She hadn't even seen him or heard of him.

"Yeah." Tonks turned slipping the answer to her question. Mindy helped her up. "Didn't you know about Buckbeak?"

"No," Nobody had said anything about him, but then, Sirius would disappear for a while from time to time. Once Mindy saw him with a bag full of – well, she didn't know _exactly_ what they were– but it must certainly was some kind of food.

Upstairs, the door was open and Mindy could see through the people and spot a gray hippogriff, part eagle, part horse. It was cute, except for the fact that its horse leg was cut open and bleeding profusely. The hippogriff was lying on its side, and Sirius was stroking him and speaking gently while Lupin wrapped a towel around its leg and gave pressure.

Kingsley came from behind Mindy and squeezed through the rest of the people, handing Sirius a vile of pink liquid. Lupin removed the cloth as Sirius poured it over the wound. It bubbled and sizzled. Buckbeak gave a squeal, but Sirius soothed him.

Tonks fetched a new towel, and Mad-eye pulled some magical tape from his pocket to cover the wound. The room slowly emptied until it was just Sirius and Mindy.

"Will he be okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. That accursed house-elf had something to do with this." Sirius shook his head and stood up.

Downstairs, there was quite a discussion taking place. They were talking about Kreacher. It had been a good half an hour spent tending to him, and when Mindy looked outside, from where she was standing at the staircase, she was surprised to see it was already dark.

At that moment, a man busted in the door. It was none other than Severus Snape.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"No Sirius! You can't go! You'll get caught." Mindy found herself shouting after the intake of Snape's news that Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been lead into the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic after being tricked by Lord Voldemort into believing that Sirius had being captured there.

"Mindy's right, Sirius, we'll be able to handle it." Lupin said this calmly, but there was a tint of terror in his voice. Mindy hoped it would be unnoticeable by Sirius. She knew her godfather better after the short time she has been around him. She knew he wasn't going to back down.

"We're wasting time," Sirius stated, "I'm not going to sit there while Harry and his friends are in danger." Mindy knew what he meant. It was easy for him to risk his life for someone else, especially if it was his godson. He felt like it was his duty to protect him.

The other half of the Order had already disapparated, others where waiting for Sirius. "It's going to be fine," he told Mindy. He saw her unconvinced expression. "Trust me, - but if anything does happen, though it's very unlikely, promise me you'll be nice to your brother." The only thing she could do was nod. He smiled and gave her a hug, then quickly disapparated with the others.

She took a look around the room to see what she was going to do now. She felt lonely. Just then, Kreacher caught her eye. He was chuckling to himself. He laid a pair of blood-shot eyes on her as he turned to corner into the living room. Mindy looked away, thinking he had totally lost it, and slumped down into the nearest chair. In the back of her mind, there was a fight going on – no, it was a full out battle between two things.

The first feeling was the guilt she felt for letting Sirius go and the awful thought that something was on the verge of going seriously wrong. The main problem was that she had a surprising tendency to be right about these things. The second feeling was the one that was supposed to make her feel better. Sirius was going to become a big hero, declared innocent, and let off the hook of ever going to prison again, and she and her brother were going to begin a new free relationship with their godfather. Sadly, this latter hope was dying a sad, painful death as she sat alone in the kitchen.

Hours and hours passed and she hadn't heard a word from anyone. She had long ago retired to her upstairs room and was trying to preoccupy herself, when she finally heard a faint voice in the room below. She couldn't make out who it was but went down to investigate. The voice belonged to Lupin; he was standing with Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. They were talking quietly. Mindy stood unnoticed, listening.

"He's gone, Molly. There was nothing we could do." There was a long pause. "I can't believe he's dead." Mindy gasped, glued to the spot. Did he just say- was Sirius _dead_? Mindy ran upstairs, not caring about the noise she was making while doing so. She ran up to what had become her room and flung herself on her bed. It was hard to think that Sirius had been there, helping her with homework that very day.

He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. She didn't believe it, but at the same time, believed it entirely. Sirius was more than a godfather to her. He was a friend. A good friend that she looked up trying to force back tears. Now he was gone and was never coming back…ever. She lay there, trying y. She suddenly jumped up and headed down the hall into the room were Buckbeak was kept.

Buckbeak was lying in the small bedroom lazily. He looked up at her as she came in. Mindy bowed, and Buckbeak lowered his head and looked up again, then rested his head back on his front legs. Mindy dropped to her knees beside him. When he didn't move or take any notice of her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his feathers and cried. The next thing she knew, Mrs. Weasley came into the room and woke her up. She had been laying next to the Hippogriff with his wing over her protectively, like if he knew the pain she was going through and was trying to comfort her. Mrs. Weasley brought her back to her bedroom. Before Mindy fell asleep, she thought for the first time on how her brother, Harry, was taking this. He had witnessed the whole thing, after all.

Mindy rolled over to see the Daily Prophet and a letter lying next to her bed. She leaned over and grabbed the Daily Prophet. There it was, on the first page.

**Harry Potter: The Chosen One?**

Rumors continue to fly about the mysterious, recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was sighted once more.

"We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything," said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night.

Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy.

Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the Wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who is also known to have been at the Ministry on the night in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter "the Chosen One," believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, are unknown. (ctd. Page 2, column 5)

Mindy flipped over to read a length of boring nonsense.

Next she picked up her letter. It was from home. She thought about not reading it and saying she did. She didn't really need to hear from _people _at the moment, and all they would do was pretend to be sympathetic, and she was sure the letter was about that. She didn't know how they would know about all this, since it just had happened a few hours ago, and the wizarding public was just finding out. With this in mind, she picked up the letter. It was in a plain Muggle envelope, and there was obviously no attempt to make it fit in with the rest of the wizarding mail. I read…

_Dear J,_

_Albus Dumbledore had visited with us this morning and told us the news about your godfather, Sirius, and we are all so sorry. He told us they all knew how much he meant to you and, frankly, how much you meant to him. I think it was good that you had some kind of parental figure over where you are as a role model or friend. I know that he was both to you. Even if Mr. Dumbledore doesn't say it to you face-to-face, he said that Sirius thought of you as a daughter and a friend too. You probably know this already, but I think it's good for you to hear it again. Everyone experiences losses, and you have been through a lot even when we didn't know it. You don't deserve it; Harry doesn't deserve it, nobody does unless it's the people that create the losses around them._

_I also want you to be careful. I know that you aren't going to tell us half the things that are going on there, and maybe it's better not to, seeing what's happened already. Just be careful and do what you are told. Be yourself and always remember we are always here and you can always come. At least you can call or write sometime. It's nice for us to know you're okay. So watch out and, again, I'm really sorry, we all are. _

_Sincerely, family_

_Your mom, Brenda Smyth and._

Mindy read this through a couple of times. It really surprised her that Dumbledore had met with her family like that. She hadn't even seen him herself yet; well, of course, she hadn't been anywhere but locked upstairs. Dumbledore probably made them write that letter. That whole day she didn't go down at all. Mrs. Weasley came and tried to persuade her to go down and eat, but Mindy made up all these excuses that she had to work or she faked asleep. She didn't want to stay like that, but it bothered her that no one had come to explain what exactly had happened and what was going on.

It went on like that for days. She finally gave up and went downstairs for food. When she got downstairs, she wished she hadn't. The Order of the Phoenix must've been having a meeting when she entered the kitchen. There were rolls of parchment spread over the table, and the dozen members stopped talking and turned around all at once. Mindy meant to turn around and leave, but Dumbledore stopped her. "Mindy, we have to talk to you." She faced Dumbledore. "We would like to finish this meeting first."

"Yes, sir," Mindy replied in monotone voice and headed back up the staircase.

By the time the meeting was over, it was almost dinner time. When Mindy went down, answering Mrs. Wesley's call, only she and Lupin were in the kitchen. Lupin was pouring over rolls of parchment, and Mrs. Weasley looked like she was cooking a whole army's dinner by herself. She was chopping onions and racing over to stir a pot, then turning to wash potatoes. "Mrs. Weasley would you like some help?" Mindy asked politely.

"No, dear, I think I have it under control," Mrs. Weasley breathed. Mindy walked over to the table and slumped down in one of the chairs across from Lupin.

"Dumbledore will be here any moment. He went to meet with the new Minister of Magic."

"Is he better than Fudge?" Mindy asked.

Lupin looked up from his rolls of parchment. "Well, it depends," he said, "he certainly is going to do better than Fudge in the war aspect, but there certainly have been doubts as well. He's a very powerful and controlling wizard. He wants everyone to get on the Ministry's side, and he's greedy for information. He'll do anything to get what he wants to find out. Kingsley said he was a good Head of Department, tough but fair."

"Yes he is," Dumbledore's voice came from behind Mindy. He took a seat at the head of the table. "He is very involved with the protection of the people and fighting to the end."

Mrs. Weasley had transferred the completed stew to a large bowl and placed it in front of them on the table along with pictured milk. Lupin had gotten up and set the table. "Dig in," Mrs. Weasley told them as she sat down herself and ladled some stew into her bowl.

"Thank you," Mindy replied, having grabbed the bowl and serving herself.

"Now, Mindy, I requested to talk to you earlier." Dumbledore brought up his voice light and calm. "I wondered if you had anything you felt like you needed to discuss."

_Please don't mention Sirius._ "No," she replied simply.

"Are you positive? I would ask now if I were you."

"What was Voldemort doing in the first place?" She saw Mrs. Weasley's expression. She obviously didn't want this to be told to her, but she couldn't dare to overrule Dumbledore.

"That's a good question. You were told that Voldemort didn't hear the whole prophecy, and the Daily Prophet told that the Department of Mysteries was where the prophecies were kept…"

"Oh, he was trying to hear the prophecy."

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "Now, if you read the book you were supposed to be assigned to, why didn't a Death Eater just steal the prophecy in the first place?"

"Well…" She remembered back to that book, 'Prophecy of the Age.' "… because the only people that can touch the prophecies, or a least remove them from the spot, is the people that it was made about."

"Good."

Lupin brought news that Sirius's will had been found. "It seems that Sirius had left everything to you and Harry," Lupin told Mindy the evening it was found cluttered in with other possessions must've been important to Sirius. "Except there is a problem: that also includes this house." Lupin looked around the room.

"I don't want it," Mindy spoke up. She knew Sirius hated the house anyway. She couldn't imagine owning a house with all those memories, plus it was a little creepy.

"Yes, but that isn't the problem," Albus Dumbledore's voice came as he walked into the kitchen. "The Black family decreed that the house was handed down the line, to the next male with the name of 'Black'. Sirius was the very last if the line as his younger brother, Regulus, predeceased him and both were childless. While his will makes it perfectly clear that he wants you and Harry to have the house, it is nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment has been set upon the house to ensure that it cannot be owed by anyone other than a pure-blood."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Mindy said.

"And if such an enchantment does exist, then the ownership of the house is most likely to pass to the eldest of Sirius's living relatives, which would mean his cousin."

"Bellatrix!?" Mindy shouted in surprise. "No! Is there anyway you can tell?" She couldn't! She, Sirius's killer, inherit the house?

"Not yet. See, Mindy, this is a very complicated situation. Now, since the house is no longer Sirius's, we do not know if the enchantments that we have put on it are still valid or if the enchantments that it could be under from the Black legacy overrule them. This is very dangerous, since the headquarters could be now plottable. Naturally, we'll have to move out until we can clarify the position. We don't want Bellatrix Lestrange showing up on our doorstep, do we?"

"As you can see…" Dumbledore paused as he took a seat at the table. "…if you and Harry inherited this house, you also inherited everything that comes with it, and Kreacher, of course." Mindy let out a low grunt. "Well, there are simple decisions you can make in regards to this," Dumbledore continued as Kreacher came from behind the chair where he had been hiding.

"I don't want him," Mindy said at once. She had only found out earlier that Kreacher was part way responsible for Sirius's death, especially when Dumbledore explained her that Sirius told Kreacher to 'get out', and he took it literally and went to the Malfoys and fed them information. This had explained why she hadn't seen him around for a while.

"Don't take decisions so quickly, Mindy, for it is not wise," Dumbledore said.

"Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, oh yes, Kreacher is the Black's, Kreacher doesn't like Potter brat, Kreacher won't, won't -"

"As you can see, Kreacher is being reluctant towards your ownership," Dumbledore showed.

"I would be too," Mindy said under her breath as Kreacher went on kicking and yelling, 'won't'.

"Would you prefer to pass him on to Bellatrix Lestrange, knowing that he has lived and heard everything the Order of the Phoenix has done?"

"_Won't, won't, won't!" _

"Of course not," Mindy said quickly.

"_Won't, won't, WON'T"_

"Kreacher shut up!" Mindy yelled over his screeches. Kreacher's cries died instantly. "Oh." Mindy realized that that was a direct order. Kreacher continued to scream but voicelessly.

"As you can see, he has no choice but to follow your commands," Dumbledore told her. "Now, you could send him to Hogwarts to live and work with the other house elves. He might like it," offered Dumbledore.

"That would be nice. Harry would probably like it too." Mindy turned to the silent Kreacher. "Okay, you go to Hogwarts and work with the other house elves and do your job, but I forbid you to say anything or do anything about anything you have heard or seen." Kreacher looked at her in a despising sort of way. There was a little 'pop', and he was gone.

"That was good. He'll be at your service at school, also," Dumbledore said. "Another matter, you and Harry also inherited Buckbeak."

"Would it be possible if Hagrid could take him?" Mindy asked.

"Hagrid would love that," Dumbledore said. There was another 'pop', this time louder and coming from upstairs. Mindy guessed that it was Buckbeak being sent to Hagrid. "That's that, for now. You'll be leaving for the Weasley residence, the Burrow, this evening. The term ends at Hogwarts tomorrow, and Ron and Ginny will be coming home. I had requested that Harry remained at the Dursleys' for a few days. Hermione will surely be coming to the Burrow shortly before."

Dumbledore had left soon after telling Mindy this, and she went upstairs to pack and get her stuff ready. After a quarter to seven, Mindy and Mrs. Weasley were off to the Burrow via the Floo network. After passing many fireplaces, she came to a stop and landed in a very homely looking house. The kitchen was rather small and cramped. There was scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle.

Mrs. Weasley beckoned her to sit down. "Arthur will be here with your things as soon as he gets off work. He's so busy after being promoted." Mindy glanced opposite her; there was a clock with only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like _Time for tea, Time to feed the chickens, _and _you're late. _Books were stacked three deep on the mantle piece, books with titles like _Charm your own Cheese, Enchanting in Backing, _and _One Minute Feasts – It's Magic! _And unless Mindy's ears were deceiving her, the old-looking radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."

Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, preparing a late dinner. "Sorry for the mess, dear, I haven't been home, obviously."

"It's fine. I love your house," Mindy said. This was true, it was way cozier than Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"Thank you. Oh, here's Arthur." Mrs. Weasley glanced at a clock with nine hands, each with a picture of a Weasley family member. All hands were pointing to mortal peril. Mr. Weasley's hand quickly switched to traveling and back to mortal peril when a moment later, there was a knock on the door, and Mr. Weasley came in carrying Mindy's trunk. She jumped up and took the trunk from him. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." He kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek, then moved to the table while reaching inside his robes to pull out a paper of some type and sitting down with it.

"I'll show you were you will be sleeping." Mrs. Weasley crossed the kitchen and went on to a rickety staircase. Upstairs, there were several rooms. Mrs. Weasley led her into the second one on the right side. "This was Fred and George's old room," Mrs. Weasley told her. Mindy put her trunk down.

"How's their business?" Mindy asked.

"It's doing well. That's what I'm told. I did wish that they would've got into the Ministry, but they're doing alright," Mrs. Weasley replied as they left.

Mindy was left alone with Mrs. Weasley. It was a quite day until later in the evening, when the eldest of the Weasley, Bill, came home with some huge news. "Fleur and I are getting married," he said, beaming. Mr. Weasley, who had just stepped through the door, stood paralyzed and Mrs. Weasley gaped. Mr. Weasley looked proudly at his son, but Mrs. Weasley was showing signs of anger and disbelief. Bill either didn't notice or disregarded this. Mindy knew that Fleur Delacour was one of the contestants of the Triwizard Tournament and she had come to work with Bill to improve her English, supposedly. She also knew that most girls despised her because she was part Veela and very pretty. "Anyway, I have to go. Fleur and I are going to dinner." Bill smiled, waved to Mindy, and disapparated.

The house was left in a devastated state. Mrs. Weasley still hadn't moved. Mr. Weasley was beaming. "Arthur, what are we going to do?" Mrs. Weasley stammered.

"What do you mean? She's a nice girl, and I think they would be happy," Mr. Weasley replied. Mrs. Weasley gave him a glare.

The fire place behind them promptly erupted in flames as a lengthy, freckled boy with flaming red hair stepped out, dragging a trunk. He stepped aside, eyes falling on Mindy. A pretty girl with the same flaming red hair came behind him. The green flames vanished immediately.

"Hello, Ron, Ginny." Mr. Weasley said.

"Hello," they chorused.

"What's wrong with Mum?" asked Ginny.

"Nothing," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Who's-" Ron started.

"Oh, sorry," Mindy steeped forward, "I'm Mindy… um… Potter?"

Ron and Ginny looked confused.

"Why don't you guys go upstairs? I'm sure Mindy will be happy to explain it," Mrs. Weasley said breathlessly.

Mindy quickly followed Ron and Ginny up the stairs.

It was awkward at first, but as Mindy started talking, it got easier. As she went further into the story, she was glad as they made comments and asked questions.

"I wouldn't be able to believe that," Ginny commented when Mindy finished.

"Yeah," Mindy replied.

"I wonder how Harry will take it," Ron added. "I don't imagine he'll be too happy, I mean, not for suddenly having a sister, but because no one was kind enough to tell him."

Mindy shrugged.

"Oh, what was Mum all upset about?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know if Bill wanted me to say anything," Mindy said quietly. "He probably wanted to tell you himself."

"Oh, come on, Mindy. You're Harry's sister, you're family now," Ginny urged.

"We'll find out, eventually," Ron added.

"Alright, Bill and Fleur are getting married."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

Seemingly, it hadn't made a difference that Mindy had spilled the news of Bill and Fleur's future elopement. The house was awoken by a series of yells from Mrs. Weasley, accompanied by the banging of pots and pans as Mr. Weasley stated his retaliations. Mindy, Ron, and Ginny had immediately clustered down the stairs to further hear the conversation.

"A year isn't very long! I know why it's happened, of course. It's all this uncertainty about You-Know-Who coming back; people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they're rushing into all sorts of decisions. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center-" Mrs. Weasley stopped abruptly as a board creaked under Ron's weight.

Noting the conclusion of the conversation, Mindy followed Ginny and Ron's retreat downstairs where Mrs. Weasley stood with her arms crossed. Mr. Weasley sat at the table and opened the Daily Prophet. A pamphlet fell out from the inside binding.

**ISSUED ON BEHALF OF **

**The Ministry of magic**

Protecting your home and family against dark forces

The Wizarding community is currently under threat from an organization calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family, and your home from attack.

You are advised not to leave the house alone.

Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Wherever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen.

Review the security arrangements around your house. Making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms, and, in the case of underage family members, Side-Along-Apparition.

Agree on security questions with close friends and family so as to detect masquerading as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion (see page 2).

Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend, or neighbor is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been under the Imperius Curse (see page 4).

Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror office immediately.

Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters _may _now be using Inferi (see page 10.) Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to that Ministry immediately.

She raised her eyebrows, glancing over her shoulder to see Ron and Ginny's similar expressions as they scanned over the pamphlet. Shrugging, they all took their seats. Mindy pulled a Defense Against the Dark Arts book and a falling apart notebook towards her from the center of the table. All of her completed assignments were collected in spurts by Professor Dumbledore.

She sometimes wondered if she would've been exposed to the truth about her life if she wasn't wanted by Voldemort. What would Lily and James want?

"Mindy…Mindy…Mindy!" Ginny's voice interrupted. Looking up from her essay with an innocent smile, she replied, "Sorry," and continued to write.

Later that day, Ginny and Ron got tired of fighting about everything they came across, and Mindy was sick of writing, especially, because it was about Defense Against the Dark Arts. A thought passed of becoming a Death Eater and never having to worry about the subject ever again. Ginny was pulled out of the room by Mrs. Weasley to help with dinner. Bill and Fleur were visiting again, giving an extra tense feeling to the atmosphere. Mindy couldn't help but notice that when Mrs. Weasley said this, she was gritting her teeth. She offered to help, feeling useless, but was turned down once again. She offered Ron's help with her homework then turned through the kitchen's door, leaving Mindy and Ron to look at each other before they ran upstairs happily with their new bit of freedom. Mindy threw the book into her room and shut the door.

She flopped down beside Ron on his Chudley Cannons bedspread.

"Is this the team that never wins?" Mindy commented.

"Who?" She pointed to his bedspread. "No!" he snapped defensively.

She grinned. "They suck. I read about them and they suck, but it's nice of you to be supportive."

"They're not that bad! What do you know about Quidditch anyway?"

"It's really simple sounding, but to read about it is a completely different thing. It sounds cool."

"When Harry gets here, we all can teach you, well, not Hermione. She's afraid of heights."

"Speaking of Hermione-" Both Mindy and Ron ran down the stairs.

"So, you're on the team?" Mindy continued as they descended down the stairs to the ground level.

"Well, no-" Ron said slowly, "but I grew up with it."

Mindy stopped short when the door of the house opened just as they were coming from down the stairs, and a girl walked through it.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed as a girl of medium height and bushy, brown hair walked through the doorway. Mindy thought she was prettier than what the story had made her out to be.

"Mindy, dear." Mrs. Weasley motioned for her to step forward after Ron and Ginny's greetings ceased. "Hermione, this is Harry's sister, Mindy." A surprised look fled Hermione's calm features. Without being able to control her thoughts, Mindy remembered a credit card commercial on television back home: this and that so many dollars… faces on peoples' faces when they figure out that I am Harry Potter's twin sister…priceless.

"I can see the resemblance." Hermione smiled after listening to Ron and Ginny's excited explanation of Mindy.

"Really?" Ginny and Ron agreed.

"That's not a good thing necessarily," Ginny whispered, afraid of being overheard.

"Why?" Ron attentively asked.

"I heard mum talking to dad; they were talking about how Mindy's not even going to go to school saying she's Harry's sister. They want you to be a spy."

Mindy shrugged. "I guess that's not so bad."

"It's really dangerous though," Hermione added.

"If I'm in Gryffindor with you guys, it wouldn't be so bad, but if I was in Slytherin, it would be a different story."

"You know that's what they're going to make you do," Ron replied.

"Of course." Mindy snorted. "They can't give me the easy way around things."

Dinner was a complete massacre. The entire time, Fleur made brave attempts to carry on petty conversations with Mrs. Weasley, which she didn't seem to want any part in. Bill invited Fleur over in the morning to have coffee with Mrs. Weasley. Ron and Ginny started a fight about orange juice and spilt the whole pitcher over Mindy and Hermione, who had been talking silently about Hogwarts.

Bill and Fleur both seemed pretty unaware of the tension between everyone, which was good. Mindy felt a bit sorry for Fleur until she started on her, asking questions about her and her old family that she didn't know the answer to. Other than that, it was Mrs. Weasley's cooking that won everybody into coming back to eat dinner as soon as possible.

Mr. Weasley came home from work when everyone was done eating. Hermione and Mindy remained at the table completing one of Mindy's final Potion essays. She was relived that Hermione was so willing to help her.

"I talked to Dumbledore today," Mr. Weasley commented.

"What did he say?" Mrs. Weasley asked, setting some left over dinner in front of him.

"He is going to pick up Harry from the Dursleys tomorrow and bring him here," he said in between chews, "after first visiting Garrett."

"Who's Garrett?" Mindy asked. Her heart had practically stopped when she heard that Harry was coming tomorrow.

"Professor Amanita. He will be one of your professors at Hogwarts," Mr. Weasley explained. "He's a vital member in the Order."

"Which subject?" Mindy questioned.

"You'll have to see," Mrs. Weasley replied. Hermione made a quiet grunt.

"Dumbledore mentioned that he will give Harry a full explanation beforehand, just in case he has any questions and to lay the pressure off you."

_Phew…_Mindy thought to herself.

That night she had trouble sleeping. Hermione and Mindy joined Ginny in her small room. Bill and Fleur were staying the night in Mindy's. Ron tried to convince her, after listening to her worrying over Harry for a few hours, that even if he didn't like her, he would get over himself, which didn't help much. Sirius had given her the old, "Get along with your brother." It was simple enough, except if Harry didn't like her, if he hated her guts and never wanted to talk to her again, or if he started to blame her for everything. She had been lying in bed for hours until she finally drifted into a restful sleep.

Ginny, Hermione, and Mindy all woke up at the same time to Mrs. Weasley's banging pots and pans around again. "I guess Fleur asked for breakfast," Ginny giggled as they got dressed and headed downstairs.

Tonks had made her first appearance since she had gotten out of the Hospital. She looked awful; her normal bright and happy appearance was dead and gone. She was obviously mourning. Sirius was, after all, her cousin.

While they sat, eating in silence, Mrs. Weasley seemed to notice the boredom between Mindy, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Mindy was tired of doing homework, which seemed to be the only thing she had been doing for the past couple of months. Hermione was tired of helping her, although she didn't say so. Ron and Ginny were tired of fighting, and it was hotter than hell, so Mrs. Weasley turned the sprinklers on and told them to go de-gnome the garden.

It turned out to be a cool way to keep them busy. Mrs. Weasley brought them sandwiches for lunch. Soon after, de-gnoming was becoming a game of throwing dirt clods at each other and pretending to apologize, which lead into a serious dirt/mud fight in the sprinkles. Hermione quickly retreated. After a while, they became bored of that too and started to the house.

"I don't think your mom is going to let us in like this," Mindy commented as they approached.

"No, probably not," Ginny replied. "We could always rinse off, couldn't we?" Their path turned to the sprinkler.

"Who's first?" Mindy raised the hose.

"Fine." Ron stood in front of her. She sprayed him off, then Ginny and herself.

"Mindy, Ginny, Ron!" they all heard Mrs. Weasley calling from inside the house. They ran around the back, sopping wet. "What have you guys been doing?" Mrs. Weasley shook her head at their dripping forms. Mindy followed Ginny and Ron into the house.

"Harry!" both of them yelled in unison and Mindy saw, standing beside Dumbledore, a male version of her… almost. There were a few deliberate mistakes between the two like Harry's ever famous, oval, green eyes. He was a bit paler than her, but you couldn't tell unless you were really paying attention. He was taller, of course, and had a lightening bolt scar dead center on his forehead.

"Ron! Ginny, Hermione-go ahead inside," Mrs. Weasley urged whispering something. They nodded reluctantly and disappear. Mrs. Weasley beamed at the twins and followed after her two youngest children and Hermione.

"Come on, Mindy, and meet your brother." Dumbledore motioned her to approach. Mindy stepped forward.

Harry stood there, almost in a trance for what seemed to be like hours. Butterflies seemed to explode through the pit of Mindy's stomach traveling up her spin as she finally laid eyes on her twin brother. She read Harry's every move and almost seemed to recall something. It might have been nothing, but something was there.

"I'm Harry." She watched him flip his jet black hair out of his eyes. His voice was so familiar.

"I'm Mindy." She became suddenly aware Dumbledore, watching quietly as the pair were finally reunited again.

Dumbledore placed his hands on their shoulders looking at them both under his spectacles as if admiring his new accomplishment, without words, he disapperated and left Mindy and Harry standing in silence.

They continued stading there for a moment looking around nervously. "So, when did you get here?" Harry asked quietly.

"A couple of months ago." Mindy replied nervously.

"Oh." Harry shifted his weight. "This is-"

"-awkward."

"Yeah." He smiled. She smiled too. A layer of the awkwardness peeled away.

"Wow." She whispered to herself. "I can't believe this is actually happening."

"I know."

"So, I think they want us to talk." Harry smiled.

Together they sat down on the lawn. The conversation was slow at first but than quickly moved on. Soon, Mindy had spilled her whole life story and they were talking a laughing like they know each other always. She felt strangely at ease with him. It was like she had known him her whole life and was positive he had the same feeling.

They had moved their discussion inside, where Hermione and Ron met in Ron and Harry's combined room. Crammed together, they began to discuss things. Ginny was stuck entertaining Fleur. "Were the Muggles all right? Did they treat you okay?" Ron said, pulling over a cardboard box and sitting on it. "Awful," he replied, "the Dursleys weren't letting up on me at all. They were actually worse than ever. I'm so glad I only spent a few days there."

"Same as usual," Harry continued, as Hermione perched herself on the edge of the bed, "they didn't talk much to me, but I like it better that way. How're you, Hermione?"

"Oh, I'm fine." She was scrutinizing Harry just as she did Mindy. Both thought they knew what was behind this; neither wanted to discuss Sirius death. She looked around distractedly. They all focused their attention on her. "What? I was just thinking…" She trailed off. "…about the prophecy."

"It's all true, Hermione," Harry replied quickly.

"All?" Ron broke in.

"About being the Chosen One, that is," Mindy replied.

"Yeah." Harry shifted in his place on the floor.

"How come you didn't say anything to us sooner?" Ron asked Mindy.

"I didn't know what to say. I thought I'd leave that up to Harry," Mindy said quietly.

"So where do you come in?" Hermione asked. Harry looked up.

"There's something missing," Mindy explained. "Nobody knew about it until the Order was tailing Voldemort, and they found out that he knew about Harry having another living relative besides the Dursleys. Soon after, they heard that Voldemort has another piece of the prophecy."

"But he doesn't even know about the first part of it. Why would he know about this last part?" Ron asked.

"Why was this part lost in the first place? Well, Dumbledore was positive that Professor Trelawney had made the prophecy, but he was wrong. It was written down before, nobody knows by whom. The part of it was found and rerecorded. The other part, of course, is what Voldemort has now," Mindy continued to explain. She shrugged.

"Great," Ron said. "So, Voldemort knows more than we do. What is he going to do now?"

"He's just trying to find me."

"There's always something they're not telling us," Harry sighed. "Anyway, what's with Fleur and Bill?"

"You mean Phlegm," Ginny said as she pushed through the door and sat down next to Mindy. "They're getting married." Ginny made coughing noises and Mindy and Hermione laughed.

"Come off it," Ron said, "it's not that bad."

"Yes, it is, Harry. She's a nightmare," Ginny told him.

"It wouldn't be that bad if she didn't talk to us like we were five," Mindy grunted.

"She's just trying to help," Hermione said. "But," she added, seeing Mindy and Ginny's expressions, "she is over doing it."

"Just give her a chance," Ron replied.

"Ronald, when have you given anyone another chance?" Hermione asked.

"I have…sometimes."

"All of you must be overreacting," Harry commented.

"Oh, come on. You boys only like her because she's part veela." Ginny snorted, flipping her hair back in a mocking fashion. Hermione and Mindy agreed.

"We haven't seen her long enough to tell if she acts like a veela." said Mindy.

"Thank Merlin," Ginny laughed.

"So, is that all you have been doing this summer?" Harry asked.

"Today we had to weed the garden," Ron told him in mock excitement.

"Then got into an enormous mud fight," Hermione snorted, shacking her head.

"I've been doing homework." Mindy said. "I'm not even half way done, and I've been meaning to ask you. Ron, do you happen to have any of your old essays?"

"Mindy!" Hermione scolded.

"I was just asking, Ron's kind of stupid anyway, so I'd have to fix them." She smirked.

"Thanks, Mindy, yeah actually, I have most of them."

"I do to," Harry added.

"You're not going to learn anything if your going to copy off someone else's work!" Hermione continued.

"Like she said, it's not like she is going to learn anything from us," Harry said.

"You get decent grades!" Hermione threw at them.

"They copied off of you," Mindy retaliated.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't, I just guessed, and they obviously do, seeing you just gave it away," Mindy said. They started laughing.

"Fine! Fine! I'll just act like I never heard any of it," Hermione muttered.

"I'm doing fine. They said I'm almost ready for the test," Mindy told her.

"Yeah, I guess."

"See, it won't hurt anything," Ron told her.

"You have to take the O.W.L.s?"

"Yeah, they are mandatory before I can start in your year."

"You're going into our year?"

"Oh, Ginny?" Fleur's voice rang up the stairs.

"Damn."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

The days flew by extra-quickly now that Harry and Hermione had arrived. Thanks to Hermione, Mindy had caught up with her work, and her Ordinary Wizarding Levels tests were approaching rapidly. The Order was hardly around anymore. Everyone was busy with secret missions, none willing to tell what was going on. Nor Mindy nor anyone else had spoken to Professor Dumbledore since the meeting with Harry and his hasty departure. The stakes were getting high. The Daily Prophet that morning had informed everyone of a huge attack on Muggles, which had sent a bridge collapsing down into the Baltic Sea near Finland. Muggles were killed and the Ministry was in outrage.

It was another gloomy day. Their world was at war, and the sky showed it. Stepping outside, there was a poisonous atmosphere. Rain lingered in the air as black clouds cast a gray haze over the Burrow. Trampling the sopping grass, Mindy followed Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny across the gravel driveway into a large fenced grassy area.

Mindy looked at the broom in her hand. This was crazy. She mimicked Harry by putting her leg over the side, straddling the wooden handle, and threw him a glare. He smirked and kicked off from the ground. She shook her head. This wasn't even crazy, it was way beyond that.

The view was amazing. She flew around happily, trying to grasp the subject. Harry, along with the others, laughed as Mindy played around. Everything was a lot different from a broom ride's point of view. Not even climbing a tree or flying an airplane had the same effect. She laughed at herself as she fought to sit straight.

"Okay," Fred and George started at the same time. Mindy sat, straddling the broom and letting her legs swings below. "Since you _are _related to Harry, you can't be too bad at this."

"We'll see," Mindy replied.

"It's really easy." Harry nudged her, and she mocked a scream. Since the day they had met, they grew quite close, as any brother and sister would. She now felt comfortable around him.

"This ball-" Ron tossed Harry a red ball as Fred explained. "-is the Quaffle. The chasers, there's three of them, throw it among themselves, trying to pass it through one of the three hoops guarded by the other team's Keeper. Ron is Keeper for our House Team at school." Fred and George started snickering. Ron threw them a cold look.

"While all that is going on, the Beaters-" Harry pointed to Fred and George. "-are keeping the Bludgers away."

"Those are balls too, but they're too dangerous to hold," Ginny added simply.

"Okay…" Mindy raised her eyebrows. "Cool." She knew most of this already, but she was enjoying the explanation.

"The other Quidditch position is Seeker," Ron continued. "They catch a little ball that flies around."

"It's harder than it sounds," Harry added.

"Oh."

"Harry is the Seeker for the House Team," Ginny said. "He's the best yet." Mindy looked at her brother just in time to see him blush.

"Yeah, but Ginny filled in for me last year."

"Anyway, are we going to play or not?" Fred said impatiently.

"Fine. We're not playing with Bludgers, so we don't need Beaters. You score by throwing the Quaffle over the fence on either side on the field," George continued. "Three on three is even, so we can have Harry, Mindy, and me on one team and Ron, Ginny, and Fred on the other." They all nodded and broke apart, flying to their sides.

"Weird, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, a bit." Mindy giggled looking at the ground below.

They started to play. It was a blast! Every player was playing every position, but as the game went on, Mindy favored playing Chaser the most. Keeper was fine, but she had catching problems, plus Harry and George liked hogging the score line. She enjoyed throwing better anyway. Their team was up seventy to forty. She had made fifty of the seventy points personally and was feeling very confident when she shouted to Harry to pay attention because the Snitch was by his foot. By the time he noticed, the Snitch was flying away from him, and he went chasing after it. Ginny had caught up to him, but he reached out and made a swift grab, thus marking the end of the game.

They stood, back on the ground, laughing about Mindy, who had managed to hang upside down from her broom and flip back on without falling off. "It would've been better if it hadn't been an accident," Mindy added over their laughs.

"How the hell did you manage that?" George asked. Mindy shook her head.

"I think you can go out for a team, though," Harry told her. "Just don't mention that." Mindy pushed him.

"Anyway…" Mindy made a brave attempt to change the subject.

"Anyway, you actually weren't too bad," Ron said.

"What is that, actually, supposed to mean, Ronald?"

"I thought you would suck. Just kidding…" he added, seeing the glare she shot at him.

"You better be kidding. Do wizards have other sports?"

"Yeah, we have bowling and games and stuff," Fred replied.

"The only one you talk about is Quidditch."

"That's because it's the best, Mindy," George said in mock exaggeration. "Plus, it's the only one you really do in school. It's like that one game that all Muggles play in America. I forgot the name, wasn't really playing attention in Muggle Studies."

"You took Muggle Studies?" Harry questioned.

"Easy grade," they replied.

"You mean football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, hockey, golf, polo, cricket, baseball, rugby, kickball or tennis, or do I need to name more?" Mindy rattled off.

"Er…"

"My point is this: Quidditch is a little over-rated, isn't it?" Everyone shrugged. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like it. I like it more than all of the other sports I ever played, but in all the things I ever read about wizarding life, Quidditch is always mentioned."

"It's true," Hermione's voice called from the front door of the house. "Mindy and Harry, you're being requested for a meeting."

They handed Ginny and Ron their brooms and went in the house. Hermione passed and met Ron, Ginny, and Fred and George.

"I wonder what they want," Mindy whispered.

"At least we're being included for once."

"That's true."

Inside, the kitchen was loaded with waiting people sitting around the table. Professor Dumbledore was there along with whom she guessed right away was Professor McGonagall. Her sleek bun and stern expression gave her away. Professor Snape and another person she didn't know were also seated along with Lupin and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Mindy and Harry quickly took seats between Mrs. Weasley and Lupin. "Aw, Mindy and Harry, we have been awaiting your arrival, how was your game?" Dumbledore asked.

"Good," Mindy and Harry answered at the same time.

He nodded. "Now, Harry, Mindy, we would like you to met our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Amanita." A thick man with a beard and long, brown hair tied back in a pony tail offered his hand to both of them. "Also, Mindy, this is Professor McGonagall." The professor acknowledged her.

"Getting down to business, Mindy, you have to go to school, assuming you have the same desires. You have done magnificently, and we have decided that you are qualified to attend Hogwarts, of course, joining Harry in sixth year." Mindy smiled. "Normally, we would have any new student go under the Sorting Hat before they are assigned to the correct House, but this time we have a different plan."

"The other professors and I think that this is a great opportunity to see what's going on in other rather risky parts of the school, for example, Slytherin. Professor Snape has kindly agreed to put you in his House and look after you."

"Do you accept this challenge? All that applies is that you will be in this House, attend classes, and be-- well-- the average Slytherin."

"_And get killed_?" was the first thought that ran through her mind.

"You will have to deny your knowing any of this, and especially, anything that might give away that you are related to Harry," Lupin added, seeing her expression.

"I have to warn you, Ms. Potter, that this will be very dangerous," Professor McGonagall added.

"You won't be totally alone," Professor Amanita joined in.

"No, you won't. Krystal Klear is also a Slytherin, and has been from the beginning." Mindy heard Harry make a disgruntled sound beside her. "Her parents are fine members of the Order, you have met them before."

She remembered this; they worked in the hospital. She wondered why Harry didn't like her, probably just because she was a Slytherin. She'd ask later. "You and Krystal will be able to meet beforehand just to get to know each other. You'll be able to correspond about everything as long as you don't get caught or disclose any compromising information. If you do, the consequences are unimaginable."

"You don't have to do it," Lupin told her. "But it is all or nothing."

"I'll do it," Mindy heard herself say.

That was it. Shortly, they politely asked Harry and Mindy to leave so they could talk about more things they weren't letting them know about. Back outside, Fred and George had left to take care of their joke shop, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were sitting in the dirt, talking animately. Mindy and Harry plopped down beside them.

"That makes me so mad-angry," Mindy muttered.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"You were right," Mindy said. "They're making me a Slytherin."

"It can't be that bad. Are you in our year?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but…" Mindy complained.

"You're only going to be stuck with Pansy Parkinson, Blair Zabini and Krystal Klear." Harry laughed.

"Isn't Krystal the good one?" Mindy asked.

"Krystal? Are you serious? If she's not going to become a Death Eater when she's old enough, I don't know which one of the girls would." Ginny laughed. "I hate her as much as Parkinson. They're the worse."

"You guys are really helping."

"It gets better," Ron mocked. "There's Crabbe and Goyle, they're two dunderheads; Blaise Zabini, Blair's brother, they're kinda low-key."

Ron and Harry rolled their eyes. "Malfoy's the worst," Harry continued. "Everyone is scared of him because he goes around acting like a tough bloke, but he isn't."

"Which, of course, is the reason why all the girls swoon over him," Ginny added. "Everyone likes a bad boy. Plus, if I didn't hate his guts, I'd find him fairly attractive." Both Ron and Harry almost had conniptions as they looked at her in disbelief. "But that's not the point. The point is, if you get in with Malfoy, then you'd be set, which might be the hardest part, seeing that even the members of his own house worship him."

"You have your work cut out for you," Hermione told her.

"Everyone is going to hate me," Mindy started.

"That's not what I would be worrying about right now. I would be more worried about thinking of a good story to tell everyone."

"Let's see," Mindy groaned, "I switched schools from some small school in America. Good enough."

"That would actually work; you just need to work on it a bit more," Harry replied.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

Mindy woke in the dead of night to find herself landing flat on the cold, hard floor. She had been dreaming. She felt cold beads of sweat gather at her neck. Picking herself off the floor, she fought to remember what she had been dreaming about. She had been in a room, or maybe outdoors. She couldn't tell. When she looked around, she saw nothing but complete, misty darkness. She wasn't able to grasp that place were she had been.

She rose to her feet once more and grabbed her forearm as an intense burning pain surged through it. The dream flashed through her mind. She suddenly recalled a tall, cloaked figure. It had stood about ten yards in front of her. It was draped in a long, flowing, black cloak. It seemed faceless as it motioned for her to follow, drifting further into the mists. The figure lead her through the complete darkness. Mindy could not even see where her feet where taking her. To her, it looked as if though there were floating through a dark mist.

On and on they kept moving. Suddenly, both came to an abrupt stop. The thing she had been following, heedlessly, raised a wand. Without a single word being heard, the Dark Mark rose and glowed in bright green flames.

Mindy opened her eyes. Breathing heavily, she looked around. She was still in Fred and George's old room, exactly like she had been when she had gone to bed. Through the window, the sun was bright in the sky, and the clock by her bedside read a quarter to eight. She fell back to her pillow, relived that it had only been a dream when she felt her arm burn once more. Carefully, she rolled her sleeve up, frightened at what she might find— the thing she dreaded most.

Later that morning, Mindy felt a strong gut feeling, advising against telling anybody about the situation. She took this as a sign to— well— not tell anybody. She knew that Dumbledore was coming for an Order meeting later, and she would have her chance to talk to him personally. The hard part was getting him alone, preferably nonchalantly, so that nobody suspected that something was wrong. When the moment came later that evening, she just did that plain and simple.

Everyone had finished dinner. Professor Dumbledore had joined them as planed, not mentioning much of anything, except for the fact that Krystal would be arriving the following morning with her parents, and that the rest of the Order were having an extremely important get-together.

"Professor Dumbledore, can I speak privately with you for a moment?" Mindy asked.

"Of course." Harry threw her a questioning look, which she ignored, as she led the way out of the room. "What is it you want to talk to me about?"

Mindy, calming down a bit, pulled up her sleeve. Dumbledore glanced at her forearm for a moment then nodded even more calmly. Mindy hated when he did that. He always made her feel so stupid.

"I had a feeling that would happen." Dumbledore sighed. "Voldemort is confused, Mindy. He hasn't got a clue of what is happening. This, naturally, is making him nervous. He doesn't know where you are, what you're doing, or if you even know who you are. You are a threat to him right now."

"The Dark Mark is the Death Eaters' sign. When the Mark burns, Voldemort is calling them to him."

"Why do I have it then?" she asked in a loud voice.

"There are a few reasonable explanations. One, he is hoping that someone will spot it and turn you in, thus bringing you out into the open. It could also be a tracing device. He is not able to pinpoint the Death Eaters' location, but theory shows he can sense it."

"So, he's obviously trying to find me?"

"Correct. Not to worry, though. You are in no immediate danger."

"_Immediate…" _Mindy thought."Yeah, he can't kill me or anything, because he doesn't have all the necessary information, and he knows he might need me."

"Yes, but we do not have that information either." Dumbledore smiled. "You sure are your parents' daughter."

Dumbledore didn't want to discuss this anymore. "By the way," he added as she turned to leave, "I don't think it would be a good idea to inform Harry about your Mark."

"Probably not."

Harry and Ron bombarded her with questions the moment they were caught alone. Hermione stood nearby and shook her head. "I just asked him about some homework." Mindy pleaded to all saints that they left her alone.

"Yeah, right," Ron said.

"Why? Think I'm too good to ask questions about homework?"

"No!"

"You could've just asked Hermione," Harry replied proudly.

"Yeah, well, it was a stupid question, and I didn't feel like being stupid at the moment, alright?"

The next morning, Mindy was, yet again, awoken. This time it was Harry jumping on her. "What?" she snapped, sitting up.

"What were you doing last night? It's getting late and Krystal's going to be here any moment!"

"Studying…" Mindy muttered. "And it's only—" She looked at her clock. "—it's only nine o'clock, so don't have a cow, damn."

"God, you're grumpy."

"If somebody didn't try to kill me in my sleep…."

"Everyone thought you were dead, anyway." He left the room and slammed the door.

Mindy got dressed, making sure she was wearing long sleeves to cover up a certain Mark.

While she was trying to find some socks, she came across her cell phone. "I thought I'd lost it," Mindy murmured to herself. She flipped it open and dialed home.

"Hey, mum," she said as a woman's voice came across the other line.

"Why haven't you called!" her mother screeched.

"I-"

"We didn't know what had happened to you! I gave you that cell phone so you could keep in touch, not just for looks!"

"I called once. Then I lost it in my clothes."

"No excuse. You could've wrote or something. Whatever you people do."

"Sorry, mother."

There was a long a pause. Mindy rolled her eyes as her mother asked, "So, how have you been?"

"Fine."

"You sound tired."

"Harry woke me up."

"Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Yeah." Mindy snorted.

"So, you know him?" her mum asked, sounding really interested.

"He's my brother, remember?"

"Oh well. I didn't know. What have you been doing?"

"Nothing, really, homework and more homework. I'm tired of homework. But if I'm gonna go to Hogwarts I have to do it. Right now we're at Ron's house, it is nice. Everyone's nice. I'm enjoying it. So, how's everything at home?"

"Same," her mum said. "Everyone's just fine. Nothing has changed."

"Thought so," Mindy said. She hadn't even thought about missing home since she arrived.

"I better let you go," her mum told her. "I have to go to bed."

"Okay, tell everyone I said hi." Mindy hung up as Hermione walked in.

"Who was that?" Hermione asked.

"My mum... you know…."

Hermione nodded. "Krystal's here with her parents. The meeting's starting; not all of the members are here yet, but they're due any moment."

"Okay, I'm coming," she said rather nervously.

"You really shouldn't listen to Harry and Ron. The Slytherins, or at least Krystal, can't be that bad if you get to know them and get past their petty front. Besides, you couldn't possible have noticed, that Ron and Harry tend to blow things out of proportion," Hermione assured.

"Yeah, they do." Mindy remembered back to Bill and Fleur's engagement notice. "They could be right. Still, I don't know. The only things I ever learned about them are what I read."

"What you read was pretty accurate. I started to read the books," Hermione told her. She giggled.

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Mindy laughed as they walked out the door.

Downstairs, Mrs. Weasley stood with a familiar couple. Beside them was a fairly pretty girl. She was skinny and average height, and had light brown hair, like her father. She had few freckles and hazel eyes. She smiled once she saw Mindy.

"Mindy dear, where were you?" Mrs. Weasley asked quickly.

"Talking on the phone, sorry."

"I thought you lost your phone. Anyway, this is Mr. and Mrs. Klear's daughter, Krystal." They smiled at each other in acknowledgment.

"Now, you two go off somewhere and get to know each other," Mrs. Klear said cheerfully as she followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen.

Mindy and Krystal looked at each other for a moment and walked out the door. Sitting across from each other in the grass, they started talking.

"So, how did you find out about all this?" was Krystal's first question. Mindy explained what had occurred. Everything, from Dumbledore's first appearance, to what she had experienced with the Order.

"I don't blame you," she commented. "I wouldn't have believed them either. They're making you take the O.W.L.s? That's crazy!"

"Were they hard?"

"Not much, I guess. I'm not the smartest person in the school, but it wasn't that big of a deal, and they were just really long and boring."

"Sounds like a test I had," Mindy explained, "back in my Muggle school. It was the WASL, Washington Assessment of Student Learning."

"Sounds exciting." Krystal laughed.

Mindy didn't think she was that bad. She was glad she had a girl to talk to. She had had Hermione but always felt embarrassed talking to her, just because Hermione was so smart and mature. Mindy couldn't really joke around her as much as she had the impulse to. That was left for Ron and Harry, but there were certain things that you can't joke about with guys.

"Oh, believe me, it was the most exciting test ever. You spend a week or two, at least, filling out and answering things in a booklet the size of Transfiguration for Dummies."

"I read part of that book," Krystal commented. "I didn't like it, but read it anyway."

"Harry threw it at me because I was trying to cover his scar with cover-up." Mindy giggled.

"You did?"

Mindy nodded. "I also tried to convince him to wear contacts, but he won't go for it. What's Harry Potter without his big, ugly glasses?"

"Do you wear glasses?" Krystal asked.

"I have them, I usually wear contacts, though. I just haven't told anyone. Nobody asked. They would make a big deal about how much more Harry and I look alike if I wore the glasses."

"You guys do look very much like the other, which isn't going to help you at all in school," Krystal said. "They told you about the whole spying thing, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's not as hard as it may sound," Krystal continued. "The Order, and everyone else for that matter, seems to think that Slytherins just talk about Dark Arts and You-Know-Who, but we don't. We're actually normal people."

"That's good." She felt a wave of relief.

"Yeah, I've barely caught any of them mention anything like that. It's funny. You just have to remember to be super conceited, especially in front of people. You always have to be the best; the richest, everything - and you have to compete with the other Houses. I think they made it pretty clear in those books that you mentioned."

Mindy agreed. "Hermione and I invented a cover-up story. I went to this school in America and then we moved to wherever, and now I'm going to Hogwarts."

"Works," Krystal said. "My mum said that we're going to Diagon Alley soon, like the week before term, that's usually when everyone goes. You have to get along with Pansy, she may be a little prick, but you have to deal with it. You wouldn't imagine how many times I wanted to…"

"Rip her head off?" Mindy suggested.

"Exactly. Blair is Blaise Zabini's twin sister. She's one of my best friends and the most likable in my opinion. As for the guys, well, they're fine. Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid to cause trouble, they're mostly hated anyway. Blaise is quiet, he's pretty okay. Draco is just the person you hear about from Harry and Ron. Most of it is true, but personally, I think he's fine, you'll understand later." Krystal paused. It was an interesting description of Malfoy, but Mindy chose to ignore it. "Anything else you want to know beforehand?"

"Um…can't think of anything at the moment. Everyone's going to think I'm stupid," Mindy whined.

"Most of the students are stupid! All you have to do is keep notes just like you're doing for your test, and if you have a question ask a teacher. Well, any teacher, besides Snape— he's awful."

"You don't like Snape?" Mindy laughed.

"No!" Krystal said. "None of us do! But if you don't want to ask a teacher, don't ask me anything. I'm nearly flunked my O.W.Ls, it was really sad. The smartest of us are Blair and Draco, so I'd ask them."

"Mindy? Mindy?" a whisper came from around the door to her bedroom. Mindy looked up from a pile of parchment essays and books to see Ginny smiling at her. "My mum wants you downstairs." She stood up curiously. Ginny was excited about something. She hurried out the door and knocked on Ron and Harry's door.

"Get up!" she ordered brightly. The door swung open and Harry followed Ginny and Mindy down the stairs.

"Where's everyone?" Harry grunted.

"Awake," Ginny stated as they turned the corner and continued down the last few steps.

Mindy and Harry gasped in surprise as they say the kitchen, completely decorated in balloons and streamers.

Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley along with Fred, George, and Ron all shouted, "Happy birthday!" as they entered.

"I forgot it was my birthday," Mindy giggled as everyone gathered in the small kitchen.

"As much as I am against serving cake for breakfast—" Mrs. Weasley brought a large chocolate cake and placed it on the middle of the table. "—this is a special occasion."

"I've never had a real birthday party," Harry whispered to Mindy.

"We know," Lupin replied. "And Mindy has never had a birthday in July."

"It's your first birthday together," Dumbledore said. "So, we decided to make it special."

"This is awesome!" Mindy said ecstatically.

Everyone clustered around the cake on the table like starving animals. Taking their seats, they were each received chunk of cake.

"Thank you." Mindy and Harry ate it all at once and looked at each other, startled.

"Welcome to twin life," George told them, shoving cake in his mouth and leaving a chocolate trail across the table's cloth.

"Just think, Harry," Fred continued with a full mouth. "You're gonna hafta watch Mindy date Slytherins."

"She will not!" Ron spat.

"Whatever it takes," Mindy smiled. She glanced at Lupin and Tonks. Lupin was shaking his head, and Tonks was grinning.

"Don't get yourself in too deep." Hermione carefully sliced each bite perfectly and placed her napkin gently on her lap.

Mindy watched her for a moment. "I know. Be careful, keep your guard up, don't act too retarded. I heard it all by now. I got the point."

"We have far more advice for you than just that," Fred chimed in.

"We know the important stuff," George continued.

"Like: don't bring a Magic Eight Ball to Divination class."

"Trelawney did not find that amusing." Both twins laughed.

"Or yelled bam every time you're in Apparition class."

"Or throw dung bombs at Mrs. Norris."

"Or paint the house elves."

"Or—" Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat, stopping her sons' reminiscing at once. "Of course, mum," George continued, "we never did any of that."

"That's what I thought," Mr. Weasley replied. Mindy could tell by the look on his face that he was amused.

"Thanks. I'm sure that is really going to help me in the long run," Mindy responded with a grin.

"You're a—" Fred stopped as Mrs. Weasley threw a warning look their way.

"Welcome," George finished.

Soon after cake, Dumbledore had brought out two packages. He handed the long, skinny package to Mindy, and he handed Harry the other large rectangular one.

Mindy was surprised. She thought the whole party was enough. She had never really expected anything. "These both are from all of us," Dumbledore explained.

"Note, Mindy, yours is making up for sixteen birthdays in one. So, don't get used to it." Lupin smiled.

Mindy glanced at Harry and him at her before they tore through the brown wrapping paper. Mindy could've fainted right then and there, as a brand new broomstick emerged from the wrap.

"It's no Firebolt, but it's the next to best."

"Are you serious?!" she gasped. "This is awesome! It's the best birthday present I ever got! Thank you so much." Removing the remainder of the paper, she could read the golden tag hooked to the smooth finished handle. 'Nimbus Mirage'. "This is the one that was just in the _Prophet_!"

Harry also appeared to be flabbergasted as he unwrapped a mini, wooded trunk. Inside, exact replicas of the Quaffle, Bludgers and the snitch revealed. They were actually made for playing Quidditch games. Both thanked everyone again and again graciously.

As soon as the festivities ended, Dumbledore and Lupin were summoned back to Hogwarts to do some mysterious work for the Order. Tonks and Mr. Weasley left for their work at the Ministry. Fred and George had to get back to their joke shop, taking Ginny along, and once again, Mindy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left at the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley. Hermione insisted to help Mrs. Weasley with the clean up as Mindy, Harry, and Ron rushed outside to play with their new toys before Mrs. Weasley could even ask. Mindy thought she would make the most of her birthday, because the next month meant serious work and concentration.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

"I'm hurrying! Holy crap, would you be patient!" Mindy yelled as she threw the bathroom door at Harry and Ron. It was early in the morning, and she was due to met Krystal any moment to leave for Diagon Alley. Krystal kept in touch via telephone. They had become best friends and Harry and Ron just couldn't believe it. Ron told her she was going to become evil like the lot of them, and Hermione smacked him, thus starting a fight. Meanwhile, Mindy and Harry were fighting over everything else like the siblings they were. It reminded Mindy of how she and Orion acted around each other. They would fight to the death, and then make up and start all over again.

None of that mattered today. Everything had to be perfect. She spent extra time doing everything this morning. This was a crucial day. She was, more than likely, about to see the majority of peers. She had been waiting for this too long to screw it up. She had rehearsed everything, what she would wear, what she would say, her personality, everything, until she was going over it even in dreams.

Someone knocked the door. "I told you I'll be right there!" She made one last adjustment to her hair.

"It's me." Mindy quickly opened the door, letting Hermione step in. "The O.W.L. results are here! I can't believe it!"

"How did you do?" Mindy asked, hardly worried.

"I haven't opened them yet!" Hermione exclaimed. "We're waiting for you!"

With that, Mindy followed Hermione briskly down the stairs.

She had finished her O.W.L.s on time to get the results with everyone else. During her testing period, she was locked in the Weasleys' study for hours, only getting up to go to the restroom. She was only allowed quill and ink and her notebook full of notes, which was more than the average student was permitted. Mindy was sure she was going to die of boredom. The test wasn't that hard because she had taken extremely detailed notes on everything she had studied.

By the middle of the week, she was done with Herbology, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and her favorite: Astronomy. She had been halfway through with Defense Against the Dark Arts, which now posed as the easiest. She had saved Potions for the last because it truly looked like the hardest, making the other subjects appear as a mere pastime. By the end of the test, she was feeling very confident with her work. It was all down to this.

Downstairs, Krystal was sitting at the table. Harry and Ron were impatiently waiting nearby with a letter in their hands. Mrs. Weasley handed Mindy and Hermione their own. "Ready?" she asked them. Everyone nodded.

Mindy sighed, looking at the letter. Shakily, she opened the envelope and revealed her Ordinary Wizarding Level scores. Taking a deep breath she read:

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_**Pass Grades Fail Grades**_

Outstanding (O)Poor (P)

Exceeds Expectations (E)Dreadful (D)

Acceptable (A)Troll (T)

_**Mindy Lillian Smyth has achieved:**_

Astronomy O

ArithmancyO

Care of Magical CreaturesO

CharmsE

Defense Against the Dark ArtsO

DivinationE

HerbologyE

History of MagicA

PotionsO

Transfiguration E

She reread it over and over. By the time she thought she had it pretty well memorized, she handed it to Hermione. "My History of Magic sucked." She didn't know if she was proud or not about her grades. She knew she should be. Three months of studying got her excellent grades even if she did use piles of notes, but she couldn't help feeling bad about not getting only Outstandings like Hermione.

"Mindy!" Hermione gasped. "This is great! You did amazing."

"Let me see!" said Krystal. Hermione handed over the letter, beaming. "Harry, Ron!" she called.

"Hey!" Mindy heard Harry say from behind her, and she turned to see a bag of coins flying straight at her, which she caught deftly.

"Thanks," she replied, "for throwing them at my face."

Harry and Ron hesitated before handing Hermione their results.

"Not bad," Hermione replied beaming.

"Nothing compared to yours," Harry muttered.

"Where are yours?" Ron asked. Mindy pointed to Krystal.

"How the hell did you get these results? They're better than mine and I've been taking classes for five years!" Mindy shrugged. Krystal handed the letter to Harry and Ron, whose jaws dropped.

"If _you_ could do this good with so little time, then what is the point of school?" Ron replied.

Harry just stood there with the paper. "This isn't fair. You must have got this from Dad."

"Thanks," Mindy replied. She knew that he father was considered as one of the smartest students Hogwarts ever saw, as was Sirius. Harry handed it back.

"Here's the book list too…" Mindy announced.

Mrs. Weasley came into the room. "Mindy got her O.W.L.s back, mum," Ron informed.

"Oh, Mindy, this is excellent." She took the letter from Mindy's outstretched hand.

"Well, I wouldn't have gotten them if it wasn't for— well— everybody," Mindy added shyly. She hated everyone making a big deal over her like this. She looked at the list. "Okay, bla, bla, bla…normal supplies, stuff like this and books…" Mindy scanned the list a few times, it included _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six _and _Advanced Potion Making._

"You girls better get a move on," Mrs. Weasley reminded.

"Don't let the other Slytherins pick on you, and if they do… well, just punch them. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Don't lose your money either," Harry told her as they got ready to go.

"Harry, they'd kill me if I did _anything_ you would do," Mindy commented.

"You know what I mean."

"Anything else?" Mindy rolled her eyes.

"Well, if I think of anything before you go to school, I'll let you know."

"You just do that."

"I will." He followed Ron upstairs.

"I think he has covered everything," Hermione said. "Be careful and at least act like yourself and have fun."

"Mama," Mindy joked as Hermione went after Harry.

"You two be careful," Mrs. Weasley said. "It could be very dangerous. Now, Mindy, do you have your list?"

"Yes."

"Money?"

"Yes."

"Okay, girls, have fun."

"We will," Krystal replied. Mindy followed her over to the fireplace where they each took a handful of Floo powder.

Mindy tripped out of the fireplace much to Krystal's entertainment. "It's my second time!" Mindy glared and looked around the large, crowded room. Stacked along the walls of the pentagonal building were piles and piles of books. Books on tables, books on shelves, and books piled to the high ceiling. Books of all shapes, sizes, and colors twisted around the room in awkward piles, piles that must have involved magic to keep them from falling down to the floor. Parents and children bustled around noisily, trying to get their last bit of school shopping done. The official Hogwarts uniforms were seen here and there, and the badge that proclaimed their owner's House was sewn to their chest.

A mother yelled for a store clerk to help her find a certain book, momentarily deviating her attention from a small child. The child pulled a book from under an angled pile. The books started to fall, and Mindy gasped as they were magically straightened up again.

Krystal extracted from her jeans' pocket the list of sixth year's supplies. "Hey, why are we wearing Muggle clothes?" Mindy asked, noticing that a considerable percentage of students and adults were decked in wizard wears.

"I didn't want you to stand out," she replied offhandedly, walking of in no particular direction. "Help me find this." She pointed at the parchment.

An hour or so must have passed while they were shopping for books. Mindy suddenly became aware of how stubborn both Krystal and herself really were. Both refused any help from the employees in directing them to the right books. They did it all on their own, obviously conscious of the available simplicity of just asking for help.

Once outside of Flourish and Blotts, Mindy glanced over her shoulder at the rustic architecture of the store as they exited. It was nothing far from how she had pictured Diagon Alley's buildings from the books' descriptions. However, it had some drastic differences. The colorful, glittering window displays of spell books, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large posters that the Ministry of Magic had pasted over them. Most of those somber purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security measures that had already been distributed on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black and white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose. Bellatrix Lestrange was sneering from the front of the nearest apothecary. A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and Eeylops Owl Emporium. On the other hand, a number of stalls had sprung up along the street. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front:

**Amulets**

**Effective against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi **

"Changed a lot since all this has been going on," Krystal muttered. She took out the list once again. "What's next?"

"I don't know. You pick."

"Well, there's robes and supplies in general, and your wand." She started walking down the street. Mindy caught up with her. "Ollivanders is this way."

Witches and Wizards, students, and children rushed and bustled down the street nervously. Everyone had tense and serious faces. Nobody wanted to be away from the safety of their homes. "Everyone looks scared," Mindy pointed out as they turned the corner.

"They should be," Krystal spoke out. "You should be too. Death Eaters are swarming. You would not believe how many are here right now. Everyone is under constant fear these days."

Ollivander's was a quaint little shop. A dusty desk stood at the back of the room. Shelves piled high with wands bordered the walls behind the counter. Mindy was relieved that she and Krystal were the only customers present. They walked up to the desk, and just as Mindy was going to say something about no employees, a quiet, old wizard wrapped in heavy, dark robes appeared behind the shelves.

"Ms. Potter, Ms. Klear." He spoke with the strong, not quivering voice you would expect from a wizard of his appearance. Mindy felt a jolt in the stomach.

"He's in the Order," Krystal whispered.

"I have been expecting you," he continued. He disappeared behind the shelves yet again.

"Phew," Mindy thought aloud. "That scared me."

"I noticed." Krystal smirked. "You better not do that again."

Before she could reply, Mr. Ollivander was back with three different, thin, lengthy boxes of wands. He opened the first box and pulled out a light-wooden wand unlike any Mindy had seen before. "This…" He held it out to her. "…is an eleven inches, aspen wand with a dragon heartstring core."

Mindy took it in her hand for a moment. She nervously flourished it lightly. "Give it more than that," Mr. Ollivander clarified. Mindy uneasily waved it again. A flowerpot was unfortunately in the path of what came out of the wand, and it erupted in flames. "Dear me." Mr. Ollivander took out his own wand and wordlessly ceased the fire.

"Merlin, Mindy!"

"No, no, definitely not the right wand." Mindy gaped at what she had just done. "That is alright, of course; your brother had the same dilemma. Try this one." Mindy took from his hand an awfully shiny, dark wand. "Cherry wood, ten inches, unicorn hair." Quickly— she had not thought about what this wand would do— and waved it at the same ill-fated flowerpot. She turned back to the counter when nothing occurred. Mr. Ollivander motioned her to try again. She didn't know what he expected. A spell? She didn't know. She waved it again and stood there blankly as nothing happened for the second time. She was just ready to turn around again when the flowerpot shifted it position, though barely.

"Congratulations Ms. Potter, you have just performed your first spell— a nonverbal at that."

Mindy smiled as Mr. Ollivander put the other wands away and as she paid. They walked out the door, parcels in hand. Mindy stuck her wand in her pocket.

"How did you do that?" Krystal exclaimed as the door shut behind them and they started back into the main part of the alley. "When I got my wand, nothing happened, really; he just said it was the right one and that the wand chooses the witch."

"I guess he just wanted to see if I could do it." Mindy shrugged.

"Yeah, but nobody in my year can do that! We don't practice nonverbal spells till this year!"

"I guess that it's good I can do it then." Mindy continued to smile as she experienced a sudden burst of confidence.

"Yes, well, anyway, you keep that on you at all time, do you hear me!" Krystal ordered her with mock authority.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yeah, seriously, that thing is going to save your life. Believe me. You don't even know yet, but you could find out at anytime."

They continued down the road, passing Hogwarts students every now and them. They all looked at Krystal strangely. "Have you seen anybody yet?"

"Not really, but – wait, never mind, see those girls over there?" Krystal pointed over in the direction up ahead where two girls were standing: a short dark haired girl and another blonde one. "That's Pansy and Blair. Oh, and they saw me. Are you ready?"

"Sure." Mindy followed slightly behind Krystal at first, and then remembered that Slytherins were supposed to be overconfident.

"Krystal!" Blair shouted. "You didn't write all summer." She wrapped her arms around Krystal in a big hug.

"I know, I've been busy," Krystal said happily. "Hi, Pansy, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Pansy replied. She was just a bit ugly from the front. She had a rather squashed face, and it was nothing compared to Blair's delicate features, accentuated by her flowing, blonde hair.

"This is Mindy," Krystal explained, stepping to one side. "Our parents are friends. She's from the United States and is transferring to Hogwarts, into our House."

"Hi." Pansy and Blair smiled.

"Hi," Mindy responded, trying not to sound too shy.

"So, what have you girls been up to?" continued Blair.

"Oh, just shopping; we have only got books and Mindy has the rest of the whole list.

"Do you want to get robes?" Blair asked Mindy. "I need new ones this year."

"Yeah." She glanced at Krystal, who smiled.

"Okay, Krystal and I will get the crap for potions," Pansy decided.

Mindy and Blair handed them the money for their ingredients. Mindy walked on with Blair to Madam Malkin's to get their robes. "Where did you live in the U.S.?"

"Washington." It would've been a lot more impressive if she had said L.A. California.

"Is that D.C.?"

Mindy laughed. "No. Honest mistake. The state, way up in the corner." If only she could have a dollar for every time somebody asked that.

"Oh, so that's like Seattle."

"Yeah. I'm from Spokane."

"That's cool. I've been to New York," Blair commented. "It was only for a day, though."

"I've never been there. Did you like it?"

"It was okay, nothing like I expected, probably was in the wrong part."

This shop was set up with all the styles of wizarding robes, from the very fancy to plain, then of course, the boring, black Hogwarts school robes. "I'll be right with you, ladies," a woman's voice came from the behind the curtain. Mindy and Blair stood there, Mindy wondering how she knew they were ladies as a girl about their age came out from behind the curtain. She was carrying her newly purchased robes.

"Daphne!" Blair exclaimed hugging her. "Thanks for calling," she said smirking. Phone calling? Mindy wondered.

"You're so welcome." Blair smiled. She turned to Mindy. "Daphne, this is Mindy, she's Krystal's friend from the U.S. She's going to school with us." Daphne held out her hand and Mindy took it.

"Hello." She smiled.

"Hi," Mindy replied.

"Where's Draco?" Blair asked, turning attention back to her.

"I don't know," Daphne said. "Where's your brother?"

"With him?" Blair shrugged.

"Must likely," Daphne said, seeing a woman step out from behind a curtain. "I'll catch up to you guys later."

"Shut up!" Mindy growled at Krystal as they stood beside a brick building with Blair and Pansy.

"No, I was serious," Krystal replied, laughing.

"Yeah, whatever, you can just keep thinking that." Mindy's heart was pounding hard. Pansy had just commented that Mindy had a strange resemblance to Harry. It was Mindy's, and Krystal's, turn to play it off like a throw away comment.

"I know, I was joking," Krystal said. Mindy rolled her eyes.

They just had finished their shopping. Mindy was loaded down with tons of parcels, filled with her school supplies, even with Urquhart, a Slytherin of their year offered to carry some. Mindy was having fun playing as the poor helpless snob that would allow guys to carry her things; otherwise she would struggle with it herself. She really wasn't the type to allow the opposite sex to do things for her, like open the doors for her, which had already happened more than once.

"So what classes are you taking, Mindy?" Blair asked.

Mindy thought for a moment. "Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History —if I have too— Potions, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy," she rambled off.

"Are you mad?" Krystal spat.

"A little bit, why?" Mindy replied smoothly.

"Funny…I mean… taking all those classes!" Krystal continued.

"Krystal, maybe she's just smarter than us," Urquhart cut in.

"Do you have your scores with you?" Pansy asked. Mindy nodded.

"My point is," Krystal scoffed, "are we all going to have breaks and free time and you're not?"

"Oh well. You're supposed to be studying in that time, anyway," Mindy replied, balancing her boxes with one arm and groping in her pocket for her scores. She held a folded piece of parchment to Pansy, who took it. Her eyes widened when she look at the results; she handed the paper over to Blair and Urquhart.

"How did you get these results? Who could…?" Blair started.

"Granger," Pansy snipped.

"Or Draco," Urquhart commented handing the results back. "Did you see his?"

"No," the three Slytherins echoed. He nodded.

"Don't be stiff, Pansy." Blair smiled. "You just wish you were able to go to America."

"Krystal!" she whispered. "Time!" Krystal focused on her watch.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry, guys, we have to go before my parents kill us," Krystal apologized. They both hugged everyone good-bye. Urquhart carefully handed Mindy the rest of her stuff, and then they left.

The walked briskly to Flourish and Blotts and then to the large fireplace by which they had arrived that morning. "You don't want the whole Order of the Phoenix after us?" Mindy replied as Krystal started to complain.

Krystal smiled and shook her head as she handed her the Floo powder.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

"You reckon?" said Ron, throwing his things randomly across the room (he was aiming for his trunk, originally).

"Yeah," Harry said. Hermione and Mindy glanced at each other. "His father's in Azkaban. Don't you think Malfoy'd try to get revenge?"

"What can he do about it?" Mindy commented.

"I don't know!" Harry said, frustrated. "He's up to something."

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. "Harry," Hermione said quietly. Ever since they had disappeared from Fred and George's shop in Diagon Alley, Harry had full-heartedly shaped the now infamous, 'Malfoy-is-a-Death-Eater' theory. Ron and Hermione had automatically dismissed it, but Mindy, on the other hand, believed her brother.

"I," Mindy said, cutting off Hermione, "think we should take this seriously. His parents are Death Eaters and-"

It was a fight already lost. "Do you really think that You-Know-Who would actually take Malfoy? He's only sixteen."

"He seems to be taking whatever he can get his hands on," Harry replied, his eyes fixed on the window behind Hermione.

"It's unlikely," Hermione said adamantly.

"Catch them young." Mindy shrugged.

"I'm not sure…"

The next morning, they were set and ready to go. Mindy had packed the night before in hopes of preventing anymore stress than the one she was already suffering. She had met the rest in the kitchen to see the smooth Ministry cars glide to the front of the Burrow. Two grim-faced Aurors stepped silently out of each of the cars and stood, waiting.

Moments like this, killing time with small talk of what had just landed on the front page of the Daily Prophet, had soon come to an end. Mindy said good bye to a weeping Mrs. Weasley. Guilt had struck her like a bullet. This woman had acted as her mother for these last few months that had proved to be the hardest part of her life so far. Mrs. Weasley finally let go with help from Lupin, who had sent both Mindy and Krystal's trunks straight to Hogwarts with a wave of his wand. Mindy gave Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione a small smile. "See you at school," she said, before turning to the ignited fireplace. She was to leave early to Hogwarts, accompanied by Krystal, giving her a chance to meet with Dumbledore and get her class schedule.

The next thing she knew, she was stepping out of the fireplace with Krystal at her side. She looked around to realize that they had come out in what appeared to be a classroom. The lighting was dim; the only source of illumination was the weak glow of a few flickering candles around the room, boarding the dark drapes hanging from the walls. Long tables stretched across the room, a cauldron placed on each seat. At the head of the room was a small desk. Sitting at it was none other than Professor Snape.

"Welcome to Potions," Krystal whispered grimly. Snape must have noticed them, since he stood as they approached.

"Miss Smyth, Miss Klear, Dumbledore is requesting your presence in his office immediately," Snape said harshly with a sneer.

"Yes, sir," Mindy and Krystal chimed. They turned quickly towards the exit.

"These are the dungeons," Krystal explained. The long corridor was almost as grim as the Potions classroom. Stone floors and bare walls in the company of moving portraits here and there wasn't the most inviting decor. "See that wall over there?" Mindy nodded. "That is the entrance to the Slytherin common room."

"Don't the other houses get portraits?"

"I guess so."

Hogwarts looked more like a medieval castle than a school, continuing down the hall and up a marble staircase with detailed wooden banisters. At the summit of the staircase was the ground floor, the famous Entrance Hall. To their left were the grand oak doors of the castle. On the other side was the main staircase. This part of Hogwarts was quite at odds with the dungeons. A very intricate design shadowed the mysterious history of the castle. The canvas portraits were moving, and the candlelight gave off a captivating glow.

Another pair of doors, Krystal explained, was the Great Hall's entrance. Krystal led the way up a few more flights of stairs, which lead to further marble staircases and extensive corridors. Abruptly, she stopped at the head of the staircase they had just climbed. Out of breath, Mindy gasped, "I'm going to need a map."

"I know. I do," Krystal responded casually.

"So, we're lost?"

"I've never been to Dumbledore's office. I'm just following what people say."

Mindy rolled her eyes. "We can't make matters worse, can we? It can't be that hard to find. It is the headmaster's office."

"I just know it was upstairs."  
"We have been going up the stairs- and upstairs, and upstairs, and upstairs." Walking down the hall, she added, "Are you sure it's on this floor?"

"Well, no, but I knew it was upstairs."

"It can be on the Astronomy Tower for all you know!"

"Fine then, you lead the way!" Krystal snapped. "You're supposed to be the smart one."

She snickered. "Okay then. I'll do it. We've already wasted almost an hour. What more is there to lose?" It was decided. She paused as they climbed another flight of stairs, looking down. She thought she saw the stairs below her move.

"Well?"

Mindy ignored her and continued to look around. This floor looked the same as the last few. A portrait hung nearby. "Um…excuse me, sir?" The snoring man in a Robin Hood-like outfit shook himself awake.

Mindy stood there for a moment, wondering if she had made a mistake. She didn't know if this was actually permitted. "Hello, dear lady, Mr. Hood at your service." The portrait tipped his hat.

"Yes, er— Mr. Hood, sir, could you point us towards the headmaster's office?" The portrait eyed them carelessly and lifted an arm, pointing towards their immediate left. "Thank you…sir."

She happily glanced at Krystal, who was standing stiffly behind her. She made her way towards the given direction, Krystal catching up with her soon after.

"Even I could've done that," Krystal muttered.

"Why didn't you?"

."There are plenty of reasons-"

"-and I bet they're good ones too. You can do it on our way back." She acknowledged the bulky stone gargoyle sentinel at the entrance of Dumbledore's office. She recognized it at once.

"So, what are most of the passwords are like again? Didn't Harry say something?" Krystal eyed the gargoyle.

"Candy."

"Huh." Mindy nodded. "Dumbledore didn't give you a password, did he?"

"Of course not, which means you'll have to stand there and name all the candy you know."

"Really? What an honor. Er… Sherbet lemon?"

"Already had it."

Krystal snickered. "Pear drop?" she asked tentatively. "Licorice wand, no, okay, Drooble's gum." She paused and nothing happened. "I'm never going to get this. Bertie Bott's Bean things."

"Keep going."

"Why can't you just open. It's kind of important!" Nothing happened.

"Maybe if you ask it nicely?"

"Will you please let us in?" Krystal growled. "Fine! Ouch!" She had kicked the gargoyle.

"I was just kidding," laughed Mindy.

"Fizzing Whizbee?" Krystal guessed, standing on one foot.

The gargoyle remained immobile. "You try."

"I don't know any of your candy," Mindy told her.

"Doesn't matter, you need to learn or just make something up."

"Okay," Mindy thought, "Chocolate frog…or not. Sugar quill," she suggested. "Cockroach Cluster!"

The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside.

"Cockroach Cluster? I was kidding."

"Well, it worked."

Hurrying through the gap between the walls, they stepped onto the foot of a spiral staircase. It moved slowly upward in a continuous pattern as the doors closed behind, plummeting up to a polished oak door with a golden brass knocker. Mindy could hear voices inside as Krystal and her paused to listen.

"Honestly, I have my full confidence in her," Dumbledore's smooth calm voice flowed out of the office. "She will do fine, but I do suggest you keep a keen eye on her. It won't be hard now that you are appointed head of Slytherin."

"I assure you, Albus, I'll do all in my power," Professor Amanita's voice was also heard. "Sir, may I ask, did Severus actually step down?"

"Yes, the rumor is true. Stepped down willingly if I must say so myself." Mindy looked at Krystal, whose expression was as excited as Professor Amanita's tone.

"Yes!" she whispered wildly. "No more answering to Snape."

Mindy raised a hand to knock but the door swung open suddenly, missing the girls by inches. "Come in," Dumbledore told them. Mindy stepped in, followed by a glaring Krystal.

"I better be off." Professor Amanita smiled. "Yes, Ms. Klear, may I see you for a moment? Thank you, Headmaster."

"Have a seat." Dumbledore motioned to an empty chair in front of his desk and watched as Mindy looked around. She never imagined Dumbledore's office to be… well, impressive. A circular room, lined with pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were fast asleep in their frames. Also lining the walls were shelves of books of all different sizes. All around the room there were magical trinkets.

"Your office is very pretty, sir," Mindy commented as she sat.

Dumbledore smiled, "Thank you." There was a short pause. "Now, Mindy. I asked you once, I've asked you a million times, are you really willing to do this?" he asked.

"Professor, with all due respect, it's beginning to sound like you don't think I can cope with it –not just you, everyone, actually. From day one I've been asked these questions so many times that I can already tell when they are coming before the other person even opens the mouth. I am certain and definite in my decision," she elucidated. "The only doubt I'm having is the curriculum. I know I'm equipped mentally, but I'm in distrust physically despite my results in the O.W.L.s?"

"The scores don't lie," the wizard responded. "You earned the results you received. You have had practice testing before. The subjects are as hard as you make them. You have covered all those subjects faster than a regular student could ever accomplish. It would be almost impracticable, not to mention improbable to be successful, to ask a typical student to perform that. The testing approach was key. If I'm accurate, your entire Muggle education was focused on a foremost test, is it not?

"Knowledge in mathematics, language, science, and all those subjects that our typical student only has the basics of is the structure of what we instruct. The things you might find useless now helped and will continue to help you the rest of your life as a witch. You have superior knowledge in comparison to anyone we teach. If you have any doubt, ask one of you classmates how to write a standard narrative essay or what the square root of one hundred and forty four is. The point is that you have done magnificently, and we will be expecting great things from you. You could be surprised of your power." "A statement of that nature was hardly ever said. Such was the depth of the meaning. "Now, here are you classes."

Schedule

Transfiguration

History of Magic

Herbology

Charms

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Potions

(Astronomy)

"It is subject to change," Dumbledore reminded, "and since there are no Slytherins taking Arithmancy, that will be our meeting time. It's very important that we have time to cover anything you need to know, plus it's time to train in wand-work and, overall, dueling. You will be quite behind in this. It is tremendously important for you to catch up. You will have times you will need to defend yourself, and when that time comes, you'll be ready." The headmaster, again, gave her a smile. "Let's try something. Take out your wand..." Mindy shakily drew her wand out of the pocket. "We'll start small and go big in a short time." Dumbledore pulled out his own wand and a sheet of piece. "Levitation."

"Swish and flick, Wingardium Leviosa?" Dumbledore nodded as she preformed the spell… almost perfectly. Mindy shook her head. Dumbledore gave her an urging look. Mindy focused on the sheet and swished and flicked her wand, and before she even said it, it drifted above the desk.

Without a single "I told you so", Dumbledore merely beamed. "Congratulations."

She was thrilled. "You are underestimating yourself, Mindy, but let's move on to something more difficult. It's just like spelling. You don't practice every word. By spelling some basic words you can spell the majority just with you knowledge."

The feast was starting any moment; the Professor had lost track of time, the only flaw she had ever uncovered. Just as Mindy gripped the door handle, he beckoned her back. "One more thing before you begin." Mindy watched as he reached into his pocket and dug out a small badge." She stepped closer to investigate. "You have been chosen to be the new Slytherin Quidditch Captain."

Her jaw nearly fell to the floor. "What?"

"Professor Snape was having a rather difficult time deciding the new Quidditch Captain this year, so I brought up your name," he said, beaming. "When Professor Amanita took over his position as head of Slytherin House, it was made certain."

"Are you sure?" She nervously took the badge that clearly read QC on top of the Slytherin crest. "That was a rhetorical question of course." She smiled. "Thank you."

"Then it's decided." Dumbledore rose and guided her out the door.

"Umm— sir, what do you do with it?"

"You put it on your robes."

"So, it's like showing off?"

"You can say that." His head turned in the direction of a grandfather clock placed against the wall. "It's about time. The students are arriving to the castle as we speak."

Once outside, Krystal stood waiting for her. "How long have you been out here?" Mindy asked lightheartedly.

"Not long— had to take care of a few things that I can't tell you about." Krystal smiled.

She looked at her suspiciously. "Brutally honest, are you?"

"I was just saying before you asked, but anyway, what happened in there?"

"I can't tell you." She walked past her and down the stairs.

"Mindy!" Krystal retorted, chasing after her.

"I was kidding. Nothing happened. Dumbledore made me do a few spells, and then… well… I guess the other part isn't that exciting." She smirked.

"I'll judge that."

"Well, okay." Mindy added a few moments of suspense to something she had been waiting a whole three seconds to tell."

"Yes?" Krystal waited.

Mindy stopped in her tracks before shouting, "Dumbledore made me Quidditch Captain!"

"He _what_? You're kidding?"

"Nope." She pointed to her badge.

"I'm so excited for you. I guess that makes it easier for me. I'm going to try out for the Keeper position this year," Krystal commented, pointing out the fact that Mindy would be in charge of filling the open positions. A smile spread across her face. "What will Harry think?"

"Oh, he'll have something to say alright, especially when we kick his team's arse." Continuing on, Mindy already felt some sort of relief after her little talk with Dumbledore, but she knew that it would die any second now.

Sure enough, Mindy obtained a serious jolt of nerves as her ears took notice of the loud chattering voices down the hall, around the corner, and then right behind a pair of doors. "Are you okay?" Krystal asked. Mindy nodded. "Everyone is talking and eating. Nobody will even notice us."

She stood, stunned, completely entranced as she followed Krystal through the heavy doors of the Great Hall. The name suited it well, complementing its entire layout. Four long polished House tables stretched vertically from where she stood. She could see the staff table perpendicular to the rest at the head of the room. Candles hovered above the heads, sending bright lighting across the hall. Uniformed students lined the tables end to end like a large sea of black. Above all the magical aspects of the hall, the ceiling was certainly the most magnificent. It showed an exact replica of the night sky. If it was an enchantment or the real thing, she wouldn't have known. Only _Hogwarts, A history_, confessed the secret.

Krystal nudged her. Mindy gave a last scan to the tables, identifying each House by their proudly exhibited crest and colors. The Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were, thankfully, on opposite sides of the room. In step with Krystal, she noted Harry, Ron, and Hermione's surveillance and refused to make eye contact.

The nervous lump in her stomach gave another tug as they drew nearer to the Slytherin table. She smiled prettily as Blair stopped them and slid to the side, making room for them between her and— _argh— _Pansy.

"What took you so long?" Pansy asked impatiently.

"Well…" Krystal sat down, leaving Mindy room to squeeze next to Blair. She started her short explanation of how her parents supposedly freaked out and kept her and Mindy behind to escort them to Hogwarts themselves for safety reasons, giving Mindy a chance to glance around briefly. She was aware that most of the table was looking at her curiously. There sat Pansy, and Blair. Two large expressionless forms, evidently Crabbe and Goyle, followed. Crossways sat an attractive dark-haired boy who resembled Blair greatly. That had to be Blaise.

Mindy continued to glance down the table. Abruptly, her eyes faltered on a handsome blonde. Draco Malfoy. All resentment of this presumed Death Eater evaporated at that moment as a fleeting feeling of recognition swept over her. She had seen him before.


End file.
